On D-Day the 404th patrolled the beachhead. attacking railroads, trains, vehicles. gun emplacements and other targets. Soon after the invasion, the squadron moved to France and participated in the air interdiction that preceded the Allied breakout at St Lo in late July and supported the following drive across northern France, it continued to operate in northeastern France and southwestern Germany through the winter of 1945, attacking storage dumps, marshalling yard, factories, bridges, roads, and vehicles. In December 1944 it provided close air support for ground forces engaged in the Battle of the Bulge.[2]

The squadron was awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation for its attacks between 15 March and 21 March 1945 that contributed to the defeat of Axis forces in southern Germany, it continued combat operations until the Surrender of Germany in May.[2] The squadron remained with the occupation forces in Germany and Austria until October 1945 when it returned to the United States and was inactivated.[1]

The wartime 404th Fighter Squadron was redesignated as the 186th Fighter Squadron, and was allotted to the Montana National Guard, on 24 May 1946, it was organized at Gore Field, Great Falls, Montana and was extended federal recognition on 27 June 1947. The squadron was equipped with F-51D Mustangs and was allotted to the Fourth Air Force, Continental Air Command by the National Guard Bureau.

Within two weeks of its activation six F-51Ds arrived, as part of the Continental Air Command Fourth Air Force, the unit trained for tactical bombing missions and air-to-air combat. Eighty-nine days after activation, tragedy struck the fledgling unit. En route to pick up the adjutant general in Helena, the A-26 Invader Lt. Col. Sperry was flying went down in a heavy snowstorm, the wreckage could not be found until the following summer. Aboard also was Sgt. Charles Glover, for whom the street along the east side of building 64 is named.

186th FIS TF-102A 56-2353, about 1970

On 1 April 1951, the unit was activated for duty in South Korea. Personnel were sent to Moody AFB, Ga., and ten F-51s were shipped to Korea. The squadron became a F-51D Fighter-Bomber training unit, the 186th was returned to Montana State control in November 1952 and on 1 January 1953, the squadron was reformed at Gore Field.

After the Korean War, the squadron was equipped with the long-range F-51H Mustang and became a part of Air Defense Command, the unit received its first jet aircraft in December 1952, a T-33 Shooting Star. In early 1953 it was equipped with F-86A Sabre jet interceptors, the squadron was redesignated the 186th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron on 1 November 1953 and adopted the "Charlie Chicken" patch. By July 1955 the transition from the F-51H Mustang to the F-86A Sabre was complete.

On 1 July 1955, the 186th was authorized to expand to a group level, and the 120th Fighter Group (Air Defense) was established by the National Guard Bureau, the 186th FIS becoming the group's flying squadron. Other squadrons assigned into the group were the 120th Headquarters, 120th Material Squadron (Maintenance), 120th Combat Support Squadron, and the 120th USAF Dispensary. Also in 1955, the F-86A day interceptors were replaced by the F-94A Starfire all-weather interceptor.

In 1958, the 120th implemented the ADC Runway Alert Program, in which interceptors of the 186th FIS were committed to a five-minute runway alert, a task that would last for 38 years, the arrival of the F-102 Delta Dagger in 1966 ushered in the supersonic age. In 1968 Air Defense Command was re-designated as Aerospace Defense Command (ADCOM); in 1972, the unit was redesignated the 120th Fighter-Interceptor Group and assigned the F-106 Delta Dart, the first Air National Guard unit to receive this aircraft. With the F-106, the squadron competed in and won its first William Tell, a live-fire missile competition held at Tyndall AFB, Florida. Performed air defense duties along the northern tier of the United States until 1978 when ADCOM was merged into Tactical Air Command. Continued air defense mission for ADTAC component of TAC with the F-106s, transferring to First Air Force when ADTAC was replaced in 1985.

The 186th FS converted from the F-106A to the F-16A/B Fighting Falcon in mid-1987, the conversion happened earlier than was scheduled and the 186th FIS was to be the last squadron to lose its F-106s. The first aircraft were older block 5 and 10 models with some block 15 airframes also being delivered to the squadron. Main task for the unit was air defense, as with many ANG units who were equipped with the F-16; in 1991 the F-16s were brought up to the Air Defense Fighter (ADF) variant.

Two U.S. Air Force General Dynamics F-16C Block 30D Fighting Falcon aircraft from the 186th Fighter Squadron Vigilantes, 120th Fighter Wing, Montana Air National Guard, in flight near Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada (USA), on 7 December 2001.

This meant a serious leap in performance and capability of this squadron in their defensive role, this situation was maintained up until 2001 when the squadron started receiving more modern F-16C block 30 aircraft with a large intake. This conversion replaced the air defense mission with one of general purpose/air-to-ground as part of the Expeditionary Aerospace Force.

With the conversion, unit members felt it was time to consider a change in the aircraft tail markings, the most notable change included the 186th Fighter Squadron's nickname of "Vigilantes". The nickname by the pilots of the 186th is intended to honor the first men in the Montana Territory who organized for the safety and welfare of the people.

The squadron once again found itself on alert status after the terrorism attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C. Base personnel implemented the necessary procedures to establish a secure environment while maintaining a 24-hour alert status for aircraft. Throughout 2002, hundreds of unit personnel were activated and deployed to multiple locations in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and the world.

As a result of the 2005 BRAC decisions the unit converted to the F-15C/D during 2008 and revert to an all-air defense unit; in early December 2007 the first F-16 left Great Falls being transferred to the 158th Fighter Wing, Vermont ANG. By the summer of 2008, eighteen F-15C Eagles had been transferred from the 131st Fighter Wing at St. Louis due to its conversion to the 131st Bomb Wing, flying the B-2 stealth bomber.

1.
Lockheed C-130 Hercules
–
The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built originally by Lockheed. Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally designed as a troop, medevac and it is now the main tactical airlifter for many military forces worldwide. Over forty variants and versions of the Hercules, including a civilian one marketed as the Lockheed L-100, the C-130 entered service with the U. S. in the 1950s, followed by Australia and others. During its years of service, the Hercules family has participated in numerous military, the C-130 Hercules is the longest continuously produced military aircraft at over 60 years, with the updated Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules currently being produced. The new transport would have a capacity of 92 passengers,72 combat troops or 64 paratroopers in a compartment that was approximately 41 feet long,9 feet high. Unlike transports derived from passenger airliners, it was to be designed from the ground-up as a transport with loading from a hinged loading ramp at the rear of the fuselage. A key feature was the introduction of the Allison T56 turboprop powerplant, as was the case on helicopters of that era, such as the UH-1 Huey, turboshafts produced much more power for their weight than piston engines. Lockheed would subsequently use the engines and technology in the Lockheed L-188 Electra. The Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter also had a ramp, which made it possible to drive vehicles onto the plane. The ramp on the Hercules was also used to airdrop cargo, the new Lockheed cargo plane design possessed a range of 1,100 nmi, takeoff capability from short and unprepared strips, and the ability to fly with one engine shut down. Fairchild, North American, Martin, and Northrop declined to participate, the remaining five companies tendered a total of ten designs, Lockheed two, Boeing one, Chase three, Douglas three, and Airlifts Inc. one. The contest was an affair between the lighter of the two Lockheed proposals and a four-turboprop Douglas design. The Lockheed design team was led by Willis Hawkins, starting with a 130-page proposal for the Lockheed L-206, both Hibbard and Johnson signed the proposal and the company won the contract for the now-designated Model 82 on 2 July 1951. The first flight of the YC-130 prototype was made on 23 August 1954 from the Lockheed plant in Burbank, the aircraft, serial number 53-3397, was the second prototype, but the first of the two to fly. The YC-130 was piloted by Stanley Beltz and Roy Wimmer on its 61-minute flight to Edwards Air Force Base, Jack Real, kelly Johnson flew chase in a Lockheed P2V Neptune. After the two prototypes were completed, production began in Marietta, Georgia, where over 2,300 C-130s have been built through 2009. The initial production model, the C-130A, was powered by Allison T56-A-9 turboprops with three-blade propellers, deliveries began in December 1956, continuing until the introduction of the C-130B model in 1959. Some A-models were equipped with skis and re-designated C-130D, four-bladed Hamilton Standard propellers replaced the Aeroproducts three-blade propellers that distinguished the earlier A-models

2.
United States
–
Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci

3.
Montana
–
Montana /mɒnˈtænə/ is a state in the Western region of the United States. The states name is derived from the Spanish word montaña, Montana has several nicknames, although none official, including Big Sky Country and The Treasure State, and slogans that include Land of the Shining Mountains and more recently The Last Best Place. Montana has a 545-mile border with three Canadian provinces, British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan, the state to do so. It also borders North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, Montana is ranked 4th in size, but 44th in population and 48th in population density of the 50 United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges, smaller island ranges are found throughout the state. In total,77 named ranges are part of the Rocky Mountains, the eastern half of Montana is characterized by western prairie terrain and badlands. The economy is based on agriculture, including ranching and cereal grain farming. Other significant economic activities include oil, gas, coal and hard rock mining, lumber, the health care, service, and government sectors also are significant to the states economy. Millions of tourists annually visit Glacier National Park, the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, the name Montana comes from the Spanish word Montaña and the Latin word Montana, meaning mountain, or more broadly, mountainous country. Montaña del Norte was the name given by early Spanish explorers to the mountainous region of the west. The name was changed by Representatives Henry Wilson and Benjamin F. Harding, when Ashley presented a bill to establish a temporary government in 1864 for a new territory to be carved out of Idaho, he again chose Montana Territory. This time Rep. Samuel Cox, also of Ohio, objected to the name, Cox complained that the name was a misnomer given most of the territory was not mountainous and that a Native American name would be more appropriate than a Spanish one. Other names such as Shoshone were suggested, but it was decided that the Committee on Territories could name it whatever they wanted, with an area of 147,040 square miles, Montana is slightly larger than Japan. It is the fourth largest state in the United States after Alaska, Texas, and California, the largest landlocked U. S. state, and the worlds 56th largest national state/province subdivision. To the north, Montana shares a 545-mile border with three Canadian provinces, British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan, the state to do so. It borders North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, the states topography is roughly defined by the Continental Divide, which splits much of the state into distinct eastern and western regions. Most of Montanas 100 or more named mountain ranges are in the western half. The Absaroka and Beartooth ranges in the states south-central part are part of the Central Rocky Mountains

4.
Air National Guard
–
When Air National Guard units are used under the jurisdiction of the state governor they are fulfilling their militia role. However, if federalized by order of the President of the United States and they are jointly administered by the states and the National Guard Bureau, a joint bureau of the Army and Air Force that oversees the National Guard of the United States. The ANG of the territories of Guam and the Virgin Islands have no aircraft assigned, ANG units typically operate under Title 32 USC. However, when operating under Title 10 USC all ANG units are operationally-gained by an active duty USAF major command. ANG units of the Combat Air Forces based in the Continental United States, conversely, CONUS-based ANG units in the Mobility Air Forces, plus the Puerto Rico ANGs airlift wing and the Virgin Islands ANGs civil engineering squadron are gained by the Air Mobility Command. The vast majority of ANG units fall under either ACC or AMC, established under Title 10 and Title 32 of the U. S. S. When not in a status, the Air National Guard operates under their respective state. The exception to rule is the District of Columbia Air National Guard. Because both state Air National Guard and the Air National Guard of the United States relatively go hand-in-hand, Air National Guard of the United States units or members may be called up for federal active duty in times of Congressionally sanctioned war or national emergency. The United States Air National Guard has about 110,000 men and women in service, even traditional part-time air guardsmen, especially pilots, navigators/combat systems officers, air battle managers and enlisted aircrew, often serve 100 or more man-days annually. As such, the concept of Air National Guard service as representing only one weekend a month, the Georgia Air National Guard and the Kansas Air National Guard previously flew the B-1B Lancer prior to converting to the E-8 Joint STARS and KC-135R Stratotanker, respectively. In addition, the 131st Fighter Wing of the Missouri Air National Guard transitioned from flying the F-15C/D Eagle at St and these proposals were eventually overruled and cancelled by the U. S. Congress. As state militia units, the units in the Air National Guard are not in the normal United States Air Force chain of command and they are under the jurisdiction of the United States National Guard Bureau unless they are federalized by order of the President of the United States. Air National Guard units are trained and equipped by the United States Air Force, the state ANG units, depending on their mission, are operationally gained by a major command of the USAF if federalized. Air National Guard personnel are expected to adhere to the moral and physical standards as their full-time active duty Air Force. The same ranks and insignia of the U. S. Air Force are used by the Air National Guard, the Air National Guard also bestows a number of state awards for local services rendered in a service members home state or equivalent. The creation of the regiments was caused by the perceived need to defend the Bay Colony against American Indians. This organization formed the basis of subsequent colonial and, post-independence, state and this distinction accounts for why there are no National Guard components in the U. S. Navy, U. S. Marine Corps or U. S. Coast Guard

5.
Montana Air National Guard
–
The Montana Air National Guard is the aerial militia of the U. S. State of Montana. Along with the Montana Army National Guard it is an element of the Montana National Guard, as state militia units, the units in the Montana Air National Guard are not in the normal United States Air Force chain of command. They are under the jurisdiction of the Governor of Montana though the office of the Montana Adjutant General unless they are federalized by order of the President of the United States. The Montana Air National Guard is headquartered in Great Falls, under the Total Force concept, Montana Air National Guard units are considered to be Air Reserve Components of the United States Air Force. Montana ANG units are trained and equipped by the Air Force and are gained by a Major Command of the USAF if federalized. Along with their obligations, Montana ANG elements are subject to activation by the Governor to provide protection of life and property. State missions include disaster relief in times of earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and forest fires, search and rescue, protection of public services. These unit designations were allotted and transferred to various State National Guard bureaus to provide them unit designations to re-establish them as Air National Guard units. Lt. Col. Willard Sperry, a combat pilot, began building the Montana Air National Guard at Gore Field. On 27 June 1947, the 186th Fighter Squadron was activated, within two weeks, six F-51D Mustangs arrived. Its mission was the air defense of the state. > Today the Montana ANG performs an airlift mission, equipped with C-130 Hercules Transport Aircraft. After the September 11th,2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, also, Montana ANG units have been deployed overseas as part of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq as well as other locations as directed. This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http, gross, Charles J, The Air National Guard and the American Military Tradition, United States Dept. of Defense, ISBN0160483026 Montana National Guard Montana Air National Guard 120th Fighter Wing

6.
120th Airlift Wing
–
The 120th Airlift Wing is a unit of the Montana Air National Guard, stationed at Great Falls Air National Guard Base at Great Falls International Airport, Montana. If activated to service, the Wing is gained by the United States Air Force Air Mobility Command. They are also on call for use by the state Governor to use in case of disasters to augment state declared emergencies. The 186th FIS becoming the flying squadron. Other squadrons assigned into the group were the 120th Headquarters, 120th Material Squadron, 120th Combat Support Squadron, the group was gained by the 29th Air Division, Air Defense Command with a mission for the air defense of the northern tier of the United States. In 1958, the 120th implemented the ADC Runway Alert Program, in which interceptors of the 186th FIS were committed to a runway alert. The arrival of the F-102 Delta Dagger in 1966 ushered in the supersonic age, in 1968 Air Defense Command was re-designated as Aerospace Defense Command. In 1972, the unit was redesignated the 120th Fighter-Interceptor Group and assigned the F-106 Delta Dart, with the F-106, the squadron competed in and won its first William Tell, a live-fire missile competition held at Tyndall AFB, Florida. Performed air defense duties along the northern tier of the United States until 1978 when ADCOM was merged into Tactical Air Command, continued air defense mission for ADTAC component of TAC with the F-106s, transferring to First Air Force when ADTAC was replaced in 1985. The 186th FS converted from the F-106A to the F-16A/B Fighting Falcon in mid-1987, the conversion happened earlier than was scheduled and the 186th FIS was to be the last squadron to lose its F-106s. The first aircraft were older block 5 and 10 models with some block 15 airframes also being delivered to the squadron, main task for the unit was air defense, as with many ANG units who were equipped with the F-16. In 1991 the F-16s were brought up to the Air Defense Fighter variant and this meant a serious leap in performance and capability of this squadron in their defensive role. This situation was maintained up until 2001 when the squadron started receiving more modern F-16C block 30 aircraft with larger intakes and this conversion replaced the air defense mission with one of general purpose/air-to-ground as part of the Expeditionary Aerospace Force. With the conversion, unit members felt it was time to consider a change in the tail markings. The most notable included the 186th Fighter Squadrons nickname of Vigilantes. The nickname by the pilots of the 186th is intended to honor the first men in the Montana Territory who organized for the safety, the squadron once again found itself on alert status after the terrorism attacks in New York City and Washington, D. C. Base personnel implemented the necessary procedures to establish an environment while maintaining a 24-hour alert status for aircraft. During 2002, hundreds of personnel were activated and deployed to multiple locations in support of Operation Enduring Freedom

7.
142nd Fighter Wing
–
The 142nd Fighter Wing is a unit of the Oregon Air National Guard, stationed at Portland Air National Guard Base, Oregon. As a state unit, the 142nd Fighter Wing is not in the normal United States Air Force chain of command. It is under the jurisdiction of the Oregon Air National Guard unless it is federalized by order of the president of the United States, if activated to federal service, the wing is gained by the United States Air Force Air Combat Command. The 123rd Fighter Squadron assigned to the wings 142nd Operations Group, is a descendant organization of 123rd Observation Squadron and it is one of the 29 original National Guard Observation Squadrons of the United States Army National Guard formed before World War II. Began operations, using P-47s, by making a sweep over France. Flew fighter- sweep, dive-bombing, and escort missions prior to the invasion of the continent, attacked railroads, trains, vehicles, gun emplacements, and buildings in France during the invasion of 6 June 1944. Patrolled beachhead areas and continued its assaults against the enemy during the remainder of the Normandy campaign, participated in the aerial barrage that prepared the way for the Allied breakthrough at St Lo on 25 July, and supported the subsequent drive across northern France. Conducted operations that supported Allied ground action in the Battle of the Bulge, returned to the US, October and November 1945 and inactivated. The wartime 371st Fighter Group was re-activated and re-designated as the 142nd Fighter Group and it was organized at Portland Municipal Airport, Oregon, and was extended federal recognition on 30 August 1946 by the National Guard Bureau. The 142nd Fighter Group was bestowed the history, honors, the groups 123rd Fighter Squadron was equipped with P-51D Mustangs and was assigned to the Fourth Air Force, Air Defense Command. The group was federalized and brought to duty on 2 March 1951. It was assigned to the Air Defense Command Western Air Defense Force and it was then reassigned to the federalized Washington ANG 142nd Fighter-Interceptor Wing on 11 April and moved to OHare International Airport, Chicago, Illinois, by 1 May 1951. Re-designated 142nd Fighter-Interceptor Group on 1 May 1951, at OHare, the 142nd Fighter Group controlled the 62nd Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, flying F-86A Sabre day interceptors. The group was inactivated on 6 February 1952, being replaced by the 4706th Air Defense Wing, re-formed as the 142nd Fighter-Interceptor Group, flying F-86F Sabre day interceptor aircraft. It resumed its mission of the air defense of Oregon. Was upgraded by ADC in 1955 to the dedicated F-94A Starfire all-weather interceptor, with this new aircraft, the mission of the 123rd Fighter-Interceptor Squadron changed from day interceptor to day and night all-weather interceptor. In 1957 the 123rd again upgraded to the improved F-89J Scorpion then in 1966 to the supersonic F-102A Delta Dagger. In the summer of 1958, the 142nd implemented the ADC Runway Alert Program, the runway alert continues to this day

8.
Richmond Army Air Base
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Richmond International Airport is a joint civil-military public airport in Sandston, Virginia, an unincorporated community. The airport is about 7 miles southeast of downtown Richmond, the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Richmond International Airport is the busiest airport in central Virginia and the third busiest in the state behind Washington D. Cs two major airports, Washington–Dulles and Washington–National. It is the 64th largest airport in the United States falling behind Memphis International Airport, seven commercial air carriers currently serve RIC, with non-stop flights to 22 destinations, and connecting flights to other countries. An estimated record 3,630,000 passengers used RIC in 2007, in October 2016 RIC reported its 32nd straight month of growth, with nearly 330,000 travelers that month. On December 8,2016 One Jet announced non-stop service from Richmond to Pittsburgh International Airport, the airline has also hinted at adding service from Richmond to Albany International Airport. To help accommodate the current and proposed increase in passengers and air service and it has increased the number of gates to 28, added parking spaces, and created a new terminal roadway and air traffic control tower. Construction on the renovated two-level terminal was completed in spring 2007, in 2016, Richmond International Airport handled over 63,000 tons of cargo, an all-time high. Cargo services offered at the airport more than 100,000 square feet of warehouse/office space and 1,000,000 square feet of apron space. The airport is designated a Foreign Trade Zone, because of its position on the Eastern Seaboard, cargo transit via RIC is on the rise. Goods shipped out of the metropolitan Richmond area can reach 68% of the U. S. population within 24 hours,2016 was a record breaking year for RIC. The most western flight ever from RIC started on United Airlines, and Delta begun serving Richmond with larger aircraft on its 7 routes (planes were Boeing 757, Boeing 737, E170, and CRJ900. American Airlines, recently merged with US Airways started more flights to PHL, ORD, LGA, Jet Blue started 3 more daily flights to ORL. Two new airlines were welcomed into RIC, Allegiant, and One Jet, Piedmont Airlines will open up a hub in RIC,5 jets are based in RIC doing daily flights to PHL, and LGA. Piedmont did a 2 million dollar renovation of one of the hangars at RIC, the airport was dedicated as Richard Evelyn Byrd Flying Field in 1927 in honor of aviator Richard E. Byrd, brother of then Gov. Harry F. Byrd. Charles Lindbergh attended the dedication ceremony, although the facility was in Henrico County, Richmond Mayor John Fulmer Bright was instrumental in the creation of Byrd Field, which was initially owned by the City of Richmond. It was renamed Richard E. Byrd Airport in 1950, the current president and CEO of the airport is Jon Mathiasen. A terminal building designed by Marcellus Wright and Son was completed in 1950 and it was expanded from 1968 to 1970, which included the current passenger concourses. The April 1957 Official Airline Guide shows 43 weekday departures,22 on Eastern,10 Piedmont,5 American,4 National, in 2007, the airport served 3,634,544 passengers, a record for the airport, a 10. 3% increase over 2006

9.
Squadron (aviation)
–
In most armed forces, two or more squadrons will form a group or a wing. Some air forces use the term squadrons for non-flying ground units. In contrast to United States Air Force units where flying squadrons are separate from supporting administrative and aircraft maintenance squadrons, in United States Marine Corps Aviation the nomenclature squadron is also used to designate all battalion-equivalent, aviation support organizations. These squadrons include, wing headquarters, tactical air command, air control, air support, aviation logistics, wing support, exceptions are USN helicopter mine countrmeasures squadrons, USMC composite medium tilt-rotor squadrons, heavy helicopter and light/attack helicopter squadrons, and Marine attack squadrons. Although part of U. S. naval aviation, United States Coast Guard aviation units are centered on an air station versus a squadron or group/wing organizational structure, the one exception to this is the Coast Guards Helicopter Interdiction Squadron, which is engaged primarily in counter-narcotics interdiction operations. In U. S. Army Aviation, flying units may be organized in battalions or squadrons reporting to an aviation brigade, an escadron is the equivalent unit in Frances Armée de lAir. It is normally subdivided into escadrilles of eight aircraft, in the Air Training Corps of the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth nations, a Squadron is a group of cadets who parade regularly. In the U. S. Civil Air Patrol, a squadron is the administrative unit. In the Swedish Air Force a helicopter squadron is a detachment from the Helicopter Wing

10.
Republic P-47 Thunderbolt
–
The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt was a World War II era fighter aircraft produced by the United States between 1941–1945. Its primary armament was eight. 50-caliber machine guns and in the fighter-bomber ground-attack role it could carry five-inch rockets or a load of 2,500 pounds. When fully loaded the P-47 weighed up to eight tons making it one of the heaviest fighters of the war. The P-47 was designed around the powerful Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp engine which was used by two U. S. Navy fighters, the Grumman F6F Hellcat and the Vought F4U Corsair. The Thunderbolt was effective as a short-to-medium range escort fighter in high-altitude air-to-air combat, the P-47 was one of the main United States Army Air Forces fighters of World War II, and served with Allied air forces including France, Britain, and Russia. Mexican and Brazilian squadrons fighting alongside the U. S. were equipped with the P-47, the armored cockpit was relatively roomy and comfortable, offering good visibility. A modern-day U. S. ground-attack aircraft, the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, both had fled from their homeland to escape the Bolsheviks. In 1939, Republic Aviation designed the AP-4 demonstrator powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-1830 radial engine with a belly-mounted turbocharger. While the resulting Republic P-43 Lancer was in limited production, Republic had been working on an improved P-44 Rocket with a powerful engine. The latter was an aircraft powered by the Allison V-1710 liquid-cooled V-12 engine. The United States Army Air Corps backed the project and gave it the designation XP-47, as the war in Europe escalated in spring 1940, Republic and the USAAC concluded that the XP-44 and the XP-47 were inferior to the Luftwaffe fighters. Republic unsuccessfully attempted to improve the design, proposing the XP-47A, kartveli then designed a much larger fighter, which was offered to the USAAC in June 1940. The Air Corps ordered a prototype in September, to be designated the XP-47B, the XP-47A, which had little in common with the new design, was abandoned. The XP-47B was of construction with elliptical wings, with a straight leading edge that was slightly swept back. The air-conditioned cockpit was roomy and the seat was comfortable—like a lounge chair. Main and auxiliary self-sealing fuel tanks were placed under the cockpit, the cowling admitted cooling air for the engine, left and right oil coolers, and the turbosupercharger intercooler system. At full power, the pipes glowed red at their forward ends, the complicated turbosupercharger system with its ductwork gave the XP-47B a deep fuselage, and the wings had to be mounted in a relatively high position. This was problematic since long-legged main landing gear struts were needed to provide clearance for the enormous propeller

11.
First Air Force
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The First Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command. It is headquartered at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida and its primary mission is the air defense of the Contiguous United States, United States Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Its mission lineage can be traced to the Air Defense Command, during the war, its primary mission became the organization and training of combat units prior to their deployment to the overseas combat air forces. First Air Force is commanded by Lieutenant General R. Scott Williams and its Command Chief Master Sergeant is Chief Master Sgt. The command has responsibility for ensuring the air sovereignty and air defense of the Contiguous United States, United States Virgin Islands. As the CONUS Region for NORAD, the bi-national North American Aerospace Defense Command, 1AF is also the designated air component for the United States Northern Command. USNORTHCOMs area of responsibility includes the continental United States, Alaska, Canada and Mexico, the command is unique in both its mission and composition. First Air Force has been an Air Combat Command organization since 1 June 1992 and its subordinate units are located throughout the continental United States. It was redesignated First Air Force on 9 April 1941 with a mission for the defense of the Northeast, AAFSC would eventually expand that mission to the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean until the antisubmarine mission was taken over completely by the Navy in mid-1943. The First Air Force became predominantly a fighter OTU and RTU organization, most P-47 Thunderbolt fighter groups were trained by I Fighter Command, along with P-39/P-63 Airacobra groups, C-47 Skytrain and later C-46 Commando groups by I Troop Carrier Command. Air Defense Wings were also organized for the metropolitan areas along the northeast coast. By 1944 the likelihood of an air attack along the eastern seaboard was remote, and these air defense wings were reduced to paper units. By 1944, the vast majority of the USAAF was engaged in operations in various parts of the world, such as the Eighth Air Force in Europe. First Air Force Headquarters was located at Fort Slocum, New York, the command was originally assigned the region of the New England states, along with New York and New Jersey. The command was inactivated on 23 June 1958 for budgetary reasons, First Air Force was reactivated at Stewart Air Force Base, Newburgh, N. Y. on 20 January 1966 due to the inactivation of the ADC Air Defense Sectors. First Air Force assumed responsibility for the ADC 21st, 33d, 34th, 35th and it also was responsible for the air defense of Greenland, Iceland and parts of Canada. By July 1968, First Air Force had again assumed responsibility for the air defense of the eastern seaboard. On 16 January 1968 Air Defense Command was re-designated Aerospace Defense Command as part of a restructuring of USAF air defense forces, ADCOM reassigned the units under the inactivated First Air Force were reassigned primarily to the 20th, 21st or 23d Air Divisions

12.
United States Air Forces Central Command
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United States Air Forces Central Command is a Named Air Force of the United States Air Force headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. During the Cold War, it was one of two Numbered Air Forces of Tactical Air Command and it has fought in the 1991 Gulf War, War in Afghanistan, the Iraq War, as well as various engagements within USCENTCOM. United States Air Forces Central is the descendant organization of Ninth Air Force. AFCENT was formed as the United States Central Command Air Forces under Tactical Air Command, CENTAF initially consisted of designated United States Air Force elements of the Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force which was inactivated and reformed as USCENTCOM in 1983. On 1 March 2008 USCENTAF was redesignated USAFCENT and it shared its commander with Ninth Air Force until August 2009. Ninth Air Force was formally re designated USAFCENT on 5 August 2009, a new Ninth Air Force was established that date for command and control of CONUS-based Air Combat Command units formerly assigned to the previous Ninth Air Force. It is planned that they return to a shared commander after the United States completes its current wars. During World War II, the air forces of the United States Army Air Forces came to be classified as strategic or tactical. In June 1942, the German Afrika Korps advance in North Africa forced the British Eighth Army to retreat towards Egypt putting British Middle East Command at risk, harry A. Halverson, commanding twenty-three B-24D Liberator heavy bombers and a hand-picked crews, decided to move to Egypt. HALPRO was quickly diverted from its mission to a new one—interdictory raids from airfields in Egypt against shipping. On 28 June 1942, Major General Lewis H Brereton arrived at Cairo to command the U. S. Army Middle East Air Force, USAMEAF comprised the Halverson Detachment, Breretons detachment, and the Air Section of US Military North African Mission. Several USAAF units were sent to join USAMEAF during next weeks in the destruction of Rommels Afrika Korps by support to troops and secure sea. Col. Patrick W. Subsequent negotiations carried the point with the British, on 12 October a small staff moved into Grey Pillars, RAF headquarters at Cairo, and thenceforth USAMEAFs bombers operated only under the strategic direction of the British. After initially resisting the attack, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel decided he no longer had the resources to hold his line, Allied victory in the Second Battle of Alamein was accomplished. Ninth Air Force had been first constituted as V Air Support Command, part of Air Force Combat Command, at Bowman Field, Kentucky on 11 September 1941. It was reassigned to Bolling Field, Washington, D. C. on 22 July and transferred without personnel or equipment to Cairo, Egypt on 12 November 1942. The Ninth Air Force mission comprised, Gain air superiority, Deny the enemy the ability to replenish or replace losses, and Offer ground forces close support in North-East Africa. On 12 November 1942, the US Army Middle East Air Force was dissolved and replaced by HQ Ninth Air Force, commanded by Lieutenant General Lewis H. Brereton

13.
RAF Bisterne
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RAF Bisterne is a former Royal Air Force Advanced Landing Ground in Hampshire, England. The airfield is located in the hamlet of Bisterne approximately 2 miles south of Ringwood and it was used by the United States Army Air Force as a fighter airfield. It was closed late in the summer of 1944, today the airfield is a mixture of agricultural fields with no recognizable remains. Bisterne was known as USAAF Station AAF-415 for security reasons by the USAAF during the war and its USAAF Station Code was BS. On 7 March 1944 the 371st Fighter Group arrived, equipped with Republic P-47 Thunderbolts, the 347th FG arrived from Richmond AAF Virginia. It is only that by comparing the local roads in the area. List of former Royal Air Force stations This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http, Freeman, Roger A. UK Airfields of the Ninth, Then and Now 1994. After the Battle ISBN 0-900913-80-0 Freeman, Roger A, the Ninth Air Force in Colour, UK and the Continent-World War Two. After the Battle ISBN 1-85409-272-3 Maurer, Maurer, Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama, Office of Air Force History, photographs of RAF Bisterne from the Geograph British Isles project Full listing of units at RAF Bisterne Wartime US pilot returns for flying visit to Blisterne Airfield

14.
Operation Overlord
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Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings, a 1, 200-plane airborne assault preceded an amphibious assault involving more than 5,000 vessels. Nearly 160,000 troops crossed the English Channel on 6 June, the decision to undertake a cross-channel invasion in 1944 was taken at the Trident Conference in Washington in May 1943. The coast of Normandy was chosen as the site of the invasion, with the Americans assigned to land at sectors codenamed Utah and Omaha, the British at Sword and Gold, and the Canadians at Juno. In the months leading up to the invasion, the Allies conducted a military deception, Operation Bodyguard. This misled the Germans as to the date and location of the main Allied landings, Adolf Hitler placed German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in charge of developing fortifications all along the Atlantic Wall in anticipation of an invasion. A failed counterattack by German forces on 8 August left 50,000 soldiers of the 7th Army trapped in the Falaise pocket, the Allies launched an invasion of southern France on 15 August, and the Liberation of Paris followed on 25 August. German forces retreated across the Seine on 30 August 1944, marking the close of Operation Overlord, in June 1940, Germanys leader Adolf Hitler had triumphed in what he called the most famous victory in history—the fall of France. The defending British Expeditionary Force, trapped along the northern coast of France, was able to evacuate over 338,000 troops to England in the Dunkirk evacuation. After the Germans invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin began pressing for the creation of a front in Western Europe. Two tentative plans code-named Operation Roundup and Operation Sledgehammer were put forward for 1942–43, instead, the Allies launched the invasion of French North Africa in November 1942, the invasion of Sicily in July 1943, and invaded Italy in September. These operations provided the troops with valuable experience in amphibious warfare, the decision to undertake a cross-channel invasion within the next year was taken at the Trident Conference in Washington in May 1943. Churchill favoured making the main Allied thrust into Germany from the Mediterranean theatre, but was over-ruled by his American allies, British Lieutenant-General Frederick E. Morgan was appointed Chief of Staff, Supreme Allied Commander, to begin detailed planning. The initial plans were constrained by the number of landing craft, most of which were already committed in the Mediterranean. In part because of lessons learned in the Dieppe Raid of 19 August 1942, the failure at Dieppe also highlighted the need for adequate artillery and air support, particularly close air support, and specialised ships able to travel extremely close to shore. Morgan considered four sites for the landings, Brittany, the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy, as Brittany and Cotentin are peninsulas, it would have been possible for the Germans to cut off the Allied advance at a relatively narrow isthmus, so these sites were rejected. The Pas de Calais is the closest point in continental Europe to Britain and was the location of sites for V-1 and V-2 rockets. The Germans considered it to be the most likely initial landing zone, Normandy was hence chosen as the landing site

15.
Dive bomber
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A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target simplifies the bombs trajectory and allows the pilot to keep visual contact throughout the bomb run and this allows attacks on point targets and ships, which were difficult to attack with conventional level bombers, even en-masse. A dive bomber dives at an angle, normally between 45 and 90 degrees, and thus requires an abrupt pull-up after dropping its bombs. This puts great strains on both pilot and aircraft and it demands an aircraft of strong construction, with some means to slow its dive. This limited the class to light bomber designs with ordnance loads in the range of 1,000 lb although there were larger examples. The SBD Dauntless helped win the Battle of Midway, was instrumental in the victory at the Battle of the Coral Sea, a second and simpler technique is to bomb from a shallow dive angle, sometimes referred to as glide bombing. This reduces the accuracy, but still allows line of sight to the target during the bomb run, the Junkers Ju 88 and Petlyakov Pe-2 were widely used in this role. The Heinkel He 177 is often mentioned as having its development upset by the demand that it be able to dive bomb, the phrase glide bombing should not be confused with the term glide bomb, where the bomb glides towards its target while the aircraft remains in level flight. Attachments for this type of bombing were fitted to the Norden bombsight, Dive bombing was most widely used before and during World War II, its use declined during the war, when its vulnerability to enemy fighters became apparent. Most tactical aircraft today allow bombing in shallow dives to keep the target visible, when released from an aircraft, a bomb carries with it the aircrafts velocity. In the case of a bomber flying horizontally, the bomb will only be travelling forward. This forward motion is opposed by the drag of the air, additionally, gravity accelerates the bomb downward. The combination of two forces, drag and gravity, results in a complex pseudo-parabolic trajectory. The distance that the bomb moves forward while it falls is known as its range, if the range for a given set of conditions is calculated, simple trigonometry can be used to find the angle between the aircraft and the target. By setting the bombsight to this angle, the aircraft can time the drop of its bombs at the instant when the target is lined up in the sight. This was only effective for area bombing, however, since the path of the bomb is only roughly estimated. Large formations could drop bombs on an area hoping to hit a target, but there was no guarantee of success. The advantage to this approach, however, was that it is easy to build such an aircraft and fly it at high altitude, the horizontal bomber was thus ill-suited for tactical bombing, particularly in close support

16.
Escort fighter
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The escort fighter was a World War II concept for a fighter aircraft designed to escort bombers to and from their targets. An escort fighter needed range long enough to reach the target, loiter over it for the duration of the raid to defend the bombers, a number of twin-engined heavy fighters with high fuel capacity were designed for escort duties before World War II. Such heavy fighters largely failed in their intended escort role during the war, as the war progressed, longer-range fighter designs and the use of drop tanks allowed single-engined fighters to perform escort duties. In the post-war era the introduction of jet engines and their inherent short range escort fighters very difficult to build. The related concept of a penetration fighter emerged briefly in the 1950s and again in the 1960s, during the Battle of Britain, the Luftwaffe used Messerschmitt Bf 109s and Bf 110s based in France as escort fighter-bombers. Flying with the Heinkel He 111 and Junkers Ju 88 medium bombers, the U. S. Army Air Forces precision strategic bombing campaign against German industries was only possible during the day. At first, this was not seen as an issue, the Forces Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, close formations of them were planned, creating a crossfire of.50 caliber machine-guns that would fend off the enemy with no need for a fighter escort. Hitting a fast-moving fighter with guns in a turret proved extremely difficult, USAAF bomber losses gradually increased, and experimental gunships like the YB-40 did nothing to reduce them. It was not until the introduction of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning, able to carry large Lockheed-designed drop tanks, the fighters were able to escort the bombers for much of their missions. The first Allied fighters over Berlin were 55th Fighter Group P-38s on March 3,1944, when the Merlin-powered North American P-51 Mustang was introduced, with a laminar-flow wing for efficiency, the final escort fighter development of the war was complete. The successes of the P-47N and P-51 gave the impression that the fighter was a concept worth continuing after the end of the war. A new concept, the XF-85 Goblin microfighter, planned to act as a fighter for the Convair B-36, was tested with a B-29 Superfortress. Later the FICON project attempted a solution, docking jet fighters with heavy bombers via a trapeze mechanism or their wingtips. In Korea, the F-80 Shooting Star and later the F-86 Sabre escorted B-29 heavy bombers, with the development of guided missiles, particularly surface-to-air missiles, plans for dedicated escort fighters designed to escort nuclear bombers gradually faded from the scene. Missile technology meant that interceptors would rarely engage bombers directly, if ever, as of bombers themselves, the advancement of land and submarine-based ballistic missiles relegated them to a lower importance—they became just a single element of the nuclear triad. In Vietnam for instance, F-4 Phantom IIs and sometimes F-8 Crusaders escorted the American bombers such as B-52 Stratofortresses, F-105 Thunderchiefs, in some cases the missions of F-4 were mixed, when some F-4 were equipped with bombs, and some F-4 acted as escorts. The development of the fighter, such as F/A-18, also decreased the need for escorts. Aerial warfare Interceptor, the adversary of an escort fighter Wild Weasel

17.
Normandy landings
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The Normandy landings were the landing operations on Tuesday,6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. The largest seaborne invasion in history, the operation began the liberation of German-occupied northwestern Europe from Nazi control, planning for the operation began in 1943. Adolf Hitler placed German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in command of German forces, the amphibious landings were preceded by extensive aerial and naval bombardment and an airborne assault—the landing of 24,000 American, British, and Canadian airborne troops shortly after midnight. Allied infantry and armoured divisions began landing on the coast of France at 06,30, the target 50-mile stretch of the Normandy coast was divided into five sectors, Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword. Strong winds blew the landing craft east of their positions, particularly at Utah. Casualties were heaviest at Omaha, with its high cliffs, at Gold, Juno, and Sword, several fortified towns were cleared in house-to-house fighting, and two major gun emplacements at Gold were disabled, using specialised tanks. The Allies failed to any of their goals on the first day. Carentan, St. Lô, and Bayeux remained in German hands, and Caen, German casualties on D-Day have been estimated at 4,000 to 9,000 men. Allied casualties were at least 10,000, with 4,414 confirmed dead, museums, memorials, and war cemeteries in the area now host many visitors each year. Between 27 May and 4 June 1940, over 338,000 troops of the British Expeditionary Force, after the German Army invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin began pressing his allies for the creation of a second front in western Europe. In late May 1942 the Soviet Union and the United States made a joint announcement that a. full understanding was reached with regard to the urgent tasks of creating a front in Europe in 1942. Instead of a return to France, the Western Allies staged offensives in the Mediterranean Theatre of Operations. By mid-1943 the campaign in North Africa had been won, the Allies then launched the invasion of Sicily in July 1943, and subsequently invaded Italy in September the same year. By then, Soviet forces were on the offensive and had won a victory at the Battle of Stalingrad. The decision to undertake a cross-channel invasion within the year was taken at the Trident Conference in Washington in May 1943. Initial planning was constrained by the number of landing craft, most of which were already committed in the Mediterranean. At the Tehran Conference in November 1943, Roosevelt and Churchill promised Stalin that they would open the second front in May 1944. Four sites were considered for the landings, Brittany, the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy, as Brittany and Cotentin are peninsulas, it would have been possible for the Germans to cut off the Allied advance at a relatively narrow isthmus, so these sites were rejected

18.
Air interdiction
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It is a core capability of virtually all military air forces, and has been conducted in conflicts since World War I. A distinction is made between tactical and strategic air interdiction, depending on the objectives of the operation. Typical objectives in tactical interdiction are meant to affect events rapidly and locally, while strategic objectives are often broader and more long-term, with less direct attacks on enemy fighting capabilities, instead focusing on infrastructure, logistics and other supportive assets. The term deep air support, relates to air support. Close air support, as the name suggests, is directed towards targets close to ground units, as closely coordinated air-strikes. Deep air support or air interdiction is carried out further from the fighting, based more on strategic planning. Despite being more strategic than close air support, air interdiction should not be confused with strategic bombing, with air interdiction in World War I, the goal was to isolate the battlefield by strafing and bombing enemy supply lines. Favorite targets were railroad lines, bridges, and truck convoys, due to the primitive state of aircraft and weapons technology, as well as the undeveloped nature of air doctrine and tactics, air interdiction missions in World War I were of limited utility. The potential of air interdiction was clearly recognized, however, specifically, the Allies launched major air interdiction efforts in the North African, Italian, and Normandy campaigns. As a consequence of differences, the results of air interdiction also varied. The greatest success was in the terrain of North Africa. The Italian campaign, by contrast, was characterized by terrain, poor weather conditions. The diverse results of two campaigns taught air planners differing lessons. Air interdiction has continued to play a role in conflicts since World War II. Once again, differing local conditions and political restraints have had an effect on how air interdiction was conducted. In Vietnam, for example, the interdiction campaign known as Rolling Thunder was largely unsuccessful. The dense jungle terrain, poor intelligence on enemy movements, the flow of supplies and reinforcements from North Vietnam to their units in South Vietnam was not seriously affected. In contrast, coalition air interdiction efforts in the 1991 Gulf War were extremely successful in isolating front-line Iraqi units from their bases in the rear

19.
Marshalling yard
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A classification yard or marshalling yard is a railway yard found at some freight train stations, used to separate railway cars on to one of several tracks. First the cars are taken to a track, sometimes called a lead or a drill, from there the cars are sent through a series of switches called a ladder onto the classification tracks. Larger yards tend to put the lead on an artificially built hill called a hump to use the force of gravity to propel the cars through the ladder, freight trains that consist of isolated cars must be made into trains and divided according to their destinations. Thus the cars must be shunted several times along their route in contrast to a unit train and this shunting is done partly at the starting and final destinations and partly in classification yards. Flat yards are constructed on ground, or on a gentle slope. Freight cars are pushed by a locomotive and coast to their required location, hump yards are the largest and most effective classification yards, with the largest shunting capacity, often several thousand cars a day. The heart of these yards is the lead track on a small hill over which an engine pushes the cars. As concerns speed regulation, there are two types of hump yards—without or with mechanisation by retarders, in the old non-retarder yards braking was usually done in Europe by railroaders who laid skates onto the tracks. The skate or chock was manually placed on one or both of the rails so that the treadles or rims of the wheel or wheels caused frictional retardation, in the United States this braking was done by riders on the cars. In the modern retarder yards this work is done by mechanized rail brakes called retarders and they are operated either pneumatically or hydraulically. Pneumatic systems are prevalent in the United States, France, Belgium, Russia and China, while hydraulic systems are used in Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. In the United States, many classification bowls have more than 40 tracks—up to 72—which are often divided into six to ten tracks in each balloon loop. Bailey Yard in North Platte, Nebraska, United States, the worlds largest classification yard, is a hump yard, notably, in Europe, Russia and China, all major classification yards are hump yards. Europes largest hump yard is that of Maschen near Hamburg, Germany, the second largest is in the port of Antwerp, Belgium. According to the PRRT&HS PRR Chronology, the first hump yard in the United States was opened May 11,1903 as part of the Altoona Yards at Bells Mills. Other sources report the PRR yard at Youngwood, PA which opened in the 1880s to serve the Connellsville coke fields as the first U. S. hump yard. Gravity yards are operated similarly to hump yards but, in contrast to the latter, thus, only few gravity yards were ever built, sometimes requiring massive earthwork. Most gravity yards were built in Germany and Great Britain, a few also in some other European countries, in the USA, there were only very few old gravity yards, one of the few gravity yards in operation today is CSXs Readville Yard south of Boston, Massachusetts

20.
Factory
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Factories arose with the introduction of machinery during the Industrial Revolution when the capital and space requirements became too great for cottage industry or workshops. Early factories that contained small amounts of machinery, such as one or two spinning mules, and fewer than a dozen workers have been called glorified workshops, most modern factories have large warehouses or warehouse-like facilities that contain heavy equipment used for assembly line production. Large factories tend to be located with access to multiple modes of transportation, with some having rail, highway, factories may either make discrete products or some type of material continuously produced such as chemicals, pulp and paper, or refined oil products. Oil refineries have most of their equipment outdoors, discrete products may be final consumer goods, or parts and sub-assemblies which are made into final products elsewhere. Factories may be supplied parts from elsewhere or make them from raw materials, continuous production industries typically use heat or electricity to transform streams of raw materials into finished products. The term mill originally referred to the milling of grain, which usually used natural resources such as water or wind power until those were displaced by steam power in the 19th century. Because many processes like spinning and weaving, iron rolling, and paper manufacturing were originally powered by water, according to translations of Demosthenes and Herodotus, Naucratis was a, or the only, factory in the entirety of ancient Egypt. A source of 1983, states the largest factory production in ancient times was of 120 slaves within 4th century BC Athens, although The Cambridge Online Dictionary definition of factory states, a building or set of buildings where large amounts of goods are made using machines elsewhere. The wheel was invented circa 3000 BC, the spoked wheel c.2000 BC, the Iron Age began approximately 1200-1000 BC. However, other sources define machinery as a means of production, according to one text the water-mill was first made in 555 A. D. by Belisarius, although according to another they were known to Pliny the Elder and Vitruvius in the first century B. C. By the time of the 4th century A. D. mills with a capacity to grind 3 tonnes of cereal an hour, the Venice Arsenal provides one of the first examples of a factory in the modern sense of the word. Founded in 1104 in Venice, Republic of Venice, several hundred years before the Industrial Revolution, the Venice Arsenal apparently produced nearly one ship every day and, at its height, employed 16,000 people. One of the earliest factories was John Lombes water-powered silk mill at Derby, by 1746, an integrated brass mill was working at Warmley near Bristol. Raw material went in at one end, was smelted into brass and was turned into pans, pins, wire, housing was provided for workers on site. Josiah Wedgwood in Staffordshire and Matthew Boulton at his Soho Manufactory were other prominent early industrialists, the factory system began widespread use somewhat later when cotton spinning was mechanized. Richard Arkwright is the credited with inventing the prototype of the modern factory. After he patented his water frame in 1769, he established Cromford Mill, in Derbyshire, England, the factory system was a new way of organizing labour made necessary by the development of machines which were too large to house in a workers cottage. Working hours were as long as they had been for the farmer, overall, this practice essentially reduced skilled and unskilled workers to replaceable commodities

21.
Close air support
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The requirement for detailed integration because of proximity, fires or movement is the determining factor. CAS may need to be conducted during shaping operations with Special Operations Forces, if the mission requires detailed integration with the fire, the term battlefield air interdiction is not currently used in U. S. joint doctrine. Close air support requires excellent coordination with ground forces, in advanced modern militaries, this coordination is typically handled by specialists such as Joint Fires Observers s, Joint Terminal Attack Controllers s, and Forward Air Controllers s. The use of aircraft in the air support of ground forces dates back to World War I. By that point, the startling and demoralizing effect that attack from the air could have on the troops in the trenches had been made clear, at the Battle of the Somme,18 British armed reconnaissance planes strafed the enemy trenches after conducting surveillance operations. The success of this improvised assault spurred innovation on both sides, in 1917, following the Second Battle of the Aisne the British debuted the first ground-attack aircraft, a modified F. E 2b fighter carrying 20-lb bombs and mounted machine-guns. After exhausting their ammunition the planes returned to base for refuelling and rearming, other modified planes used in this role were the Airco DH.5 and Sopwith Camel—the latter was particularly successful in this role. Aircraft support was first integrated into a plan on a large scale at the 1917 Battle of Cambrai. British doctrine at the time came to two forms of air support, trench strafing, and ground strafing —attacking tactical ground targets away from the land battle. As well as strafing with machine-guns, the planes were modified with bomb racks, the Germans were also quick to adopt this new form of warfare and were able to deploy aircraft in a similar capacity at Cambrai. While the British used single-seater planes, the Germans preferred the use of heavier two-seaters with a machine gunner in the aft cockpit. The Germans adopted the powerful Hannover CL. II and built the first purpose built ground attack aircraft, during the 1918 Spring Offensive the Germans employed 30 squadrons, or Schlasta, of ground attack fighters and were able to achieve some initial tactical success. The British later deployed the Sopwith Salamander as a ground attack aircraft. It was during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of 1918 that Close Air Support was first proven to be an important factor in ultimate victory, combined with a ground assault led by General Edmund Allenby, three Turkish armies soon collapsed into a full rout. In the words of the squadrons official report, No 1 Squadron made six heavy raids during the day. The panic and slaughter beggared description, the close air support doctrine was further developed in the interwar period. Most theorists advocated the adaptation of fighters or light bombers into the role, during this period, airpower advocates crystallized their views on the role of air-power in warfare. Aviators and ground officers developed largely opposing views on the importance of CAS, the inter-war period saw the use of CAS in a number of conflicts, including the Russo-Polish War, the Spanish Civil War, colonial wars in the Middle East and the Gran Chaco War

22.
Battle of the Bulge
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The Battle of the Bulge was the last major German offensive campaign of World War II. It was launched through the densely forested Ardennes region of Wallonia in Belgium, France, the surprise attack caught the Allied forces completely off guard. American forces bore the brunt of the attack and incurred their highest casualties of any operation during the war, the battle also severely depleted Germanys armoured forces on the Western Front, and they were largely unable to replace them. German personnel and later, Luftwaffe aircraft, also sustained heavy losses, the Germans officially referred to the offensive as Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein, while the Allies designated it the Ardennes Counteroffensive. The phrase Battle of the Bulge was coined by contemporary press to describe the bulge in German front lines on wartime news maps, once that was accomplished, the German dictator Adolf Hitler believed he could fully concentrate on the Soviets on the Eastern Front. The offensive was planned by the German forces with utmost secrecy, with minimal radio traffic and movements of troops, intercepted German communications indicating a substantial German offensive preparation were not acted upon by the Allies. The Germans achieved total surprise on the morning of 16 December 1944, due to a combination of Allied overconfidence, preoccupation with Allied offensive plans, and poor aerial reconnaissance. The Germans attacked a weakly defended section of the Allied line, columns of armor and infantry that were supposed to advance along parallel routes found themselves on the same roads. This, and terrain that favored the defenders, threw the German advance behind schedule, improved weather conditions permitted air attacks on German forces and supply lines, which sealed the failure of the offensive. In the wake of the defeat, many experienced German units were left severely depleted of men and equipment, the Germans initial attack involved 406,000 men,1,214 tanks, tank destroyers, and assault guns, and 4,224 artillery pieces. These were reinforced a couple of later, bringing the offensives total strength to around 450,000 troops. Between 67,200 and 125,000 of their men were killed, missing, for the Americans, out of 610,000 troops involved in the battle,89,000 were casualties. While some sources report that up to 19,000 were killed, British historian Antony Beevor reports the number killed as 8,407. It was the largest and bloodiest battle fought by the United States in World War II, after the breakout from Normandy at the end of July 1944 and the Allied landings in southern France on 15 August 1944, the Allies advanced toward Germany more quickly than anticipated. The Allies were faced with several military logistics issues, - troops were fatigued by weeks of continuous combat supply lines were stretched extremely thin supplies were dangerously depleted. General Dwight D. Eisenhower and his staff chose to hold the Ardennes region which was occupied by the U. S, the Allies chose to defend the Ardennes with as few troops as possible due to the favorable terrain and limited Allied operational objectives in the area. They also had intelligence that the Wehrmacht was using the area across the German border as an area for its troops. The speed of the Allied advance coupled with a lack of deep-water ports presented the Allies with enormous supply problems

23.
Distinguished Unit Citation
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The unit with the most Presidential Unit Citations is the USS Parche with 9 citations. The Army citation was established by Executive Order 9075 on 26 February 1942, superseded by Executive Order 9396 on Dec.2,1943, as with other Army unit citations, the PUC is in a larger frame than other ribbons, and is worn above the right pocket. All members of the unit may wear the decoration, whether or not they participated in the acts for which the unit was cited. Only those assigned to the unit at the time of the action cited may wear the decoration as a permanent award, for both the Army and Air Force, the emblem is a solid blue ribbon enclosed in a gold frame. The Air Force PUC was adopted from the Army Distinguished Unit Citation after the Air Force became a military branch in 1947. By Executive Order 10694, dated Jan,10,1957 the Air Force redesignated the Distinguished Unit Citation as the Presidential Unit Citation. The Air Force PUC is the color and design as the Army PUC but slightly smaller. The Citation is carried on the units colors in the form of a blue streamer,4 ft long and 2.75 in wide. For the Army, only on rare occasions will a larger than battalion qualify for award of this decoration. The Navy citation was established by Executive Order 9050 on 6 February 1942, the Navy version has blue, yellow, and red horizontal stripes, and is the only Navy ribbon having horizontal stripes. These are only worn by persons who meet the criteria at the time it is awarded to the unit, unlike the Army, those who later join the unit do not wear it on a temporary basis. The current decoration is known as the Department of Homeland Security Presidential Unit Citation. A Coast Guard version of the award was awarded to all U. S. Coast Guard and Coast Guard Auxiliary personnel responding to Hurricane Katrina by President George W. Bush for rescue, the United States Public Health Service Presidential Citation was established in 2015. The design was finalized by the Army Institute of Heraldry on 17 August 2015, two units of the Free French Forces were awarded Presidential Unit Citations during World War II. On April 22,1986, the 1st Fighter Group Força Aérea Brasileira was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for its actions in the Po Valley region of Italy in World War II. The Brazilians, operating in Italy in support of Allied forces, destroyed in one day over 45 vehicles, strafed pontoon bridges on the River Po, eleven missions of 44 sorties were flown destroying nine motor transports and damaging 17. One Belgian-Luxembourgian battalion of the Belgian United Nations Command was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation once for actions during the Battle of the Imjin River, the Colombia Battalion received the citation while attached to the American 21st Infantry Regiment in 1951. One Dutch unit, the Netherlands Detachment United Nations, part of the Regiment Van Heutsz, was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation twice for actions during the Korean War, the first citation was awarded after the battle near Wonju and Hoengson in February 1951

24.
Axis powers
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The Axis powers, also known as the Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis, were the nations that fought in World War II against the Allied Powers. The Axis agreed on their opposition to the Allies, but did not completely coordinate their activity, the Axis grew out of the diplomatic efforts of Germany, Italy, and Japan to secure their own specific expansionist interests in the mid-1930s. The first step was the treaty signed by Germany and Italy in October 1936, Mussolini declared on 1 November that all other European countries would from then on rotate on the Rome–Berlin axis, thus creating the term Axis. The almost simultaneous second step was the signing in November 1936 of the Anti-Comintern Pact, Italy joined the Pact in 1937. At its zenith during World War II, the Axis presided over territories that occupied parts of Europe, North Africa. There were no three-way summit meetings and cooperation and coordination was minimal, the war ended in 1945 with the defeat of the Axis powers and the dissolution of their alliance. As in the case of the Allies, membership of the Axis was fluid, at the time he was seeking an alliance with the Weimar Republic against Yugoslavia and France in the dispute over the Free State of Fiume. The term was used by Hungarys prime minister Gyula Gömbös when advocating an alliance of Hungary with Germany, when Mussolini publicly announced the signing on 1 November, he proclaimed the creation of a Rome–Berlin axis. Italy under Duce Benito Mussolini had pursued an alliance of Italy with Germany against France since the early 1920s. He believed that Italy could expand its influence in Europe by allying with Germany against France, in early 1923, as a goodwill gesture to Germany, Italy secretly delivered weapons for the German Army, which had faced major disarmament under the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles. General Hans von Seeckt supported an alliance between Germany and the Soviet Union to invade and partition Poland between them and restore the German-Russian border of 1914. The discussions concluded that Germans still wanted a war of revenge against France but were short on weapons, however at this time Mussolini stressed one important condition that Italy must pursue in an alliance with Germany, that Italy must. Tow them, not be towed by them, the French government warned Italy that it had to choose whether to be on the side of the pro-Versailles powers or that of the anti-Versailles revanchists. Grandi responded that Italy would be willing to offer France support against Germany if France gave Italy its mandate over Cameroon, France refused Italys proposed exchange for support, as it believed Italys demands were unacceptable and the threat from Germany was not yet immediate. In 1932, Gyula Gömbös and the Party of National Unity rose to power in Hungary, Gömbös sought to alter Hungarys post–Treaty of Trianon borders by forming an alliance with Austria and Italy, knowing that Hungary alone was not capable of challenging the Little Entente powers. At the meeting between Gömbös and Mussolini in Rome on 10 November 1932, the question came up of the sovereignty of Austria in relation to the rise to power in Germany of the Nazi Party. Mussolini was worried about Nazi ambitions towards Austria, and indicated that at least in the term he was committed to maintaining Austria as a sovereign state. Italy had concerns over a Germany which included Austria laying land claims to German-populated territories of the South Tyrol within Italy, Mussolini said he hoped the Anschluss could be postponed as long as possible until the breakout of a European war that he estimated would begin in 1938

25.
German Instrument of Surrender
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The German Instrument of Surrender ended World War II in Europe. An earlier version of the text had been signed in a ceremony in Reims in the hours of 7 May 1945. In the West,8 May is known as Victory in Europe Day, whereas in post-Soviet states the Victory Day is celebrated on 9 May, there were three language versions of the surrender document. The Russian and English versions were the only authoritative ones, by 3 January 1944, the Working Security Committee in the EAC proposed that the capitulation of Germany should be recorded in a single document of unconditional surrender. The committee further suggested that the instrument of surrender be signed by representatives of the German High Command, not everyone agreed with the Working Security Committees predictions regarding the wars ending. Ambassador William Strang, British representative at the EAC, claimed as follows, the surrender terms for Germany were first discussed at the first EAC meeting on 14 January 1944. A definitive text was agreed on 28 July 1944, and was adopted by the three Allied Powers. The agreed text was in three parts, the instrument of surrender itself followed in fourteen articles. Articles 13 and 14 specified the date of surrender and the languages of the definitive texts, while this was unresolved, there were in effect two versions of the EAC text, with and without the dismemberment clause. These guidelines formed the basis for the series of capitulations of German forces to the Western Allies in April. But that did mean that the text as signed at Reims had not been agreed in advance with the Soviet High Command. But with the fall of Berlin two days later, and American and Soviet forces having linked up at Torgau on the Elbe, the area of Germany still under German military control had been split in two. German military commanders in Italy had been conducting secret negotiations for a partial surrender, field Marshal Albert Kesselring, with overall military command for OKW-South, initially denounced the capitulation, but once Hitlers death had been confirmed, acceded to it. On 5 May 1945, all German forces in Bavaria and Southwest Germany signed an act of surrender to the Americans at Haar, outside Munich, in addition, Dönitz hoped to continue to evacuate soldiers and civilians by sea from the Hela peninsula and the surrounding Baltic coastal areas. From 5 May, Army Group Centre was also engaged in the suppression of the Prague uprising. The surrenders in the west had succeeded in ceasing hostilities between the Western allies and German forces on almost all fronts, German forces in the east were ordered instead to fight their way westwards. Dönitzs representative, Admiral Friedeburg, informed him on 6 May that Eisenhower was now insisting on immediate, simultaneous, the signing took place in a red brick schoolhouse, the Collège Moderne et Technique de Reims, that served as the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force. It was to take effect at 23,01 CET on 8 May, the unconditional surrender of the German armed forces was signed by Jodl, on behalf of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht

26.
Military occupation
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Military occupation is effective provisional control by a certain ruling power over a territory which is not under the formal sovereignty of that entity, without the volition of the actual sovereign. Military government may be characterized as the administration or supervision of occupied territory. Military government is distinguished from law, which is the temporary rule by domestic armed forces over disturbed areas. The rules of government are delineated in various international agreements, primarily the Hague Convention of 1907. A country that establishes a government and violates internationally agreed upon norms runs the risk of censure, criticism. In the current era, the practices of government have largely become a part of customary international law. Article 42 of the 1907 Hague Convention on Land Warfare specify that erritory is considered occupied when it is placed under the authority of the hostile army. The form of administration by which an occupying power exercises government authority over occupied territory is called military government, neither the Hague Conventions nor the Geneva Conventions specifically define or distinguish an act of invasion. The terminology of occupation is used exclusively, the clear distinction has been recognized among the principles of international law since the end of the Napoleonic wars in the 19th century. These customary laws of belligerent occupation which evolved as part of the laws of war gave some protection to the population under the occupation of a belligerent power. The first two articles of that state, Art. Territory is considered occupied when it is placed under the authority of the hostile army. The occupation extends only to the territory where such authority has been established, in 1949 these laws governing belligerent occupation of an enemy states territory were further extended by the adoption of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Much of GCIV is relevant to protected persons in occupied territories and Section III, Article 6 restricts the length of time that most of GCIV applies, The present Convention shall apply from the outset of any conflict or occupation mentioned in Article 2. In the territory of Parties to the conflict, the application of the present Convention shall cease on the close of military operations. GCIV emphasised an important change in international law, the Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies. S. are not signatory to this additional protocol. The military government of the occupying power will continue past the point in time when the peace treaty comes into force. Military government continues until legally supplanted is the rule, as stated in Military Government and Martial Law, by William E. Birkhimer, see Birkhimer, p. 25–26, No proclamation of part of the victorious commander is necessary to the lawful inauguration and enforcement of military government

27.
Helena, Montana
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Helena /ˈhɛlᵻnə/ is the capital city of the U. S. state of Montana and the county seat of Lewis and Clark County. It was founded as a camp during the Montana gold rush. Over $3.6 billion of gold was extracted in the city limits over a duration of two decades, making it one of the wealthiest cities in the United States by the nineteenth century. The concentration of wealth contributed to the prominent, elaborate Victorian architecture. The 2010 census put the population at 28,190 and the Lewis, Helena is the principal city of the Helena Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Lewis and Clark and Jefferson counties, its population is 77,414 according to the 2015 Census Estimate. The local daily newspaper is the Independent Record, professional sports teams include the Helena Brewers minor league baseball and Helena Bighorns Tier III Junior A hockey team. The city is served by Helena Regional Airport, the Helena area was long used by various indigenous peoples. Before the introduction of the horse some 300 years ago, and since, other peoples, including the Salish. Yet like the native peoples none of them stayed for long, gold strikes in Idaho Territory in the early 1860s attracted many migrants who initiated major gold rushes at Grasshopper Creek and Alder Gulch in 1862 and 1863 respectively. So many people came that the government created a new territory called Montana in May 1864. These miners prospected far and wide for new gold discoveries. The original camp was named Last Chance by the Four Georgians, by fall, the population had grown to over 200, and some thought the name Last Chance was too crass. On October 30,1864, a group of at least seven self-appointed men met to name the town, authorize the layout of the streets, the first suggestion was Tomah, a word the committee thought had connections to the local Indian people. Other nominations included Pumpkinville and Squashtown, other suggestions were to name the community after various Minnesota towns, such as Winona and Rochester, as a number of settlers had come from Minnesota. Finally, a Scotsman named John Summerville proposed Helena, which he pronounced /həˈliːnə/ hə-LEE-nə in honor of Helena Township, Scott County, Minnesota. This immediately caused an uproar from the former Confederates in the room, who insisted upon the pronunciation /ˈhɛlᵻnə/ HEL-i-nə, after Helena, Arkansas, a town on the Mississippi River. While the name Helena won, the pronunciation varied until approximately 1882 when the /ˈhɛlᵻnə/ HEL-i-nə pronunciation became dominant and has remained so to the present. Later tales of the naming of Helena claimed the name came variously from the island of St. Helena, the townsite was first surveyed in 1865 by Captain John Wood

28.
Douglas A-26 Invader
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A limited number of highly modified United States Air Force aircraft served in Southeast Asia until 1969. It was a fast aircraft capable of carrying twice its specified bomb load, a range of guns could be fitted to produce a formidable ground-attack aircraft. A re-designation of the type from A-26 to B-26 led to confusion with the Martin B-26 Marauder, which first flew in November 1940, about 16 months before the Douglas designs maiden flight. The A-26 was Douglas Aircrafts successor to the A-20 Havoc, also known as Douglas Boston, one of the most successful and widely operated types flown by Allied air forces in World War II. Designed by Ed Heinemann, Robert Donovan, and Ted R. Smith, the Douglas XA-26 prototype first flew on 10 July 1942 at Mines Field, El Segundo, with test pilot Benny Howard at the controls. Flight tests revealed excellent performance and handling, but problems with engine cooling led to cowling changes, repeated collapses during testing led to strengthening of the nose landing gear. The A-26 was originally built in two different configurations, the A-26B had a gun nose, which originally could be equipped with a combination of armament including.50 caliber machine guns, 20mm or 37mm auto cannon, or even a 75mm pack howitzer. Normally the gun nose version housed six.50 caliber machine guns, officially termed the all-purpose nose, the A-26Cs glass nose, officially termed the Bombardier nose, contained a Norden bombsight for medium altitude precision bombing. The A-26C nose section included two fixed M-2 guns, later replaced by underwing gun packs or internal guns in the wings. An A-26C nose section could be exchanged for an A-26B nose section, or vice versa, in a few man-hours, thus changing the designation. The flat-topped canopy was changed in late 1944 after about 820 production aircraft, alongside the pilot in an A-26B, a crew member typically served as navigator and gun loader for the pilot-operated nose guns. In an A-26C, that crew member served as navigator and bombardier, a small number of A-26Cs were fitted with dual flight controls, some parts of which could be disabled in flight to allow limited access to the nose section. A tractor-style jump seat was located behind the navigators seat, general George Kenney, commander of the Far East Air Forces stated that, We do not want the A-26 under any circumstances as a replacement for anything. Until changes could be made, the 3d Bomb Group requested additional Douglas A-20 Havocs, the 319th Bomb Group worked up on the A-26 in March 1945, joining the initial 3rd BG, with the 319th flying until 12 August 1945. The A-26 operations wound down in mid-August 1945 with only a few dozen missions flown, several of the A-20 and B-25 AAF units in the Pacific received the A-26 for trials, in limited quantities. Douglas needed better results from the Invaders second combat test, so A-26s began arriving in Europe in late September 1944 for assignment to the Ninth Air Force, the initial deployment involved 18 aircraft and crews assigned to the 553d Squadron of the 386th Bomb Group. This unit flew its first mission on 6 September 1944, no aircraft were lost on the eight test missions, and the Ninth Air Force announced that it was happy to replace all of its A-20s and B-26s with the A-26 Invader. Due to a shortage of A-26C variants, the groups flew a combined A-20/A-26 unit until deliveries of the glass-nose version caught up, besides bombing and strafing, tactical reconnaissance and night interdiction missions were undertaken successfully

29.
South Korea
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South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea, is a sovereign state in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula. The earliest Korean pottery dates to 8000 BC, with three kingdoms flourishing in the 1st century BC and its rich and vibrant culture left 19 UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritages of Humanity, the third largest in the world, along with 12 World Heritage Sites. Annexed into Imperial Japan in 1910, Korea was divided after its surrender in 1945, peace has since mostly continued with the two agreeing to work peacefully for reunification and the South solidifying peace as a regional power with the worlds 10th largest defence budget. South Koreas tiger economy soared at an average of 10% for over 30 years in a period of rapid transformation called the Miracle on the Han River. A long legacy of openness and focus on innovation made it successful, today, it is the worlds fifth largest exporter with the G20s largest budget surplus and highest credit rating of any country in East Asia. It has free trade agreements with 75% of the economy and is the only G20 nation trading freely with China, the US. Since 1988, its constitution guarantees a liberal democracy with high government transparency, high personal freedoms led to the rise of a globally influential pop culture such as K-pop and K-drama, a phenomenon called the Korean Wave, known for its distinctive fashionable and trendy style. Home of the UN Green Climate Fund and GGGI, South Korea is a leader in low carbon growth, committed to helping developing countries as a major DAC. It is the third least ignorant country in the Index of Ignorance, ranking eighth highest for peaceful tolerance. It is the worlds largest spender on R&D per GDP, leading the OECD in graduates in science, the name Korea derives from the name Goryeo. The name Goryeo itself was first used by the ancient kingdom of Goguryeo in the 5th century as a form of its name. The 10th-century kingdom of Goryeo succeeded Goguryeo, and thus inherited its name, the modern spelling of Korea first appeared in the late 17th century in the travel writings of the Dutch East India Companys Hendrick Hamel. After Goryeo was replaced by Joseon in 1392, Joseon became the name for the entire territory. The new official name has its origin in the ancient country of Gojoseon, in 1897, the Joseon dynasty changed the official name of the country from Joseon to Daehan Jeguk. The name Daehan, which means great Han literally, derives from Samhan, however, the name Joseon was still widely used by Koreans to refer to their country, though it was no longer the official name. Under Japanese rule, the two names Han and Joseon coexisted, there were several groups who fought for independence, the most notable being the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea. Following the surrender of Japan, in 1945, the Republic of Korea was adopted as the name for the new country. Since the government only controlled the part of the Korean Peninsula

30.
Lockheed T-33
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The Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star is an American jet trainer aircraft. It was produced by Lockheed and made its first flight in 1948 piloted by Tony LeVier, the T-33 was developed from the Lockheed P-80/F-80 starting as TP-80C/TF-80C in development, then designated T-33A. It was used by the U. S. Navy initially as TO-2 then TV-2, as of 2015, Canadian-built examples remain in service with the Bolivian Air Force. The T-33 was developed from the Lockheed P-80/F-80 by lengthening the fuselage by slightly over three feet and adding a seat, instrumentation and flight controls. It was initially designated as a variant of the P-80/F-80, the TP-80C/TF-80C, design work for the Lockheed P-80 began in 1943 with the first flight on 8 January 1944. Following on the Bell P-59, the P-80 became the first jet fighter to enter squadron service in the United States Army Air Forces. As more advanced jets entered service, the F-80 took on another role—training jet pilots, the two-place T-33 jet was designed for training pilots already qualified to fly propeller-driven aircraft. Originally designated the TF-80C, the T-33 made its first flight on 22 March 1948 with U. S. production taking place from 1948 to 1959, the US Navy used the T-33 as a land-based trainer starting in 1949. It was designated the TV-2, but was redesignated the T-33B in 1962, the Navy operated some ex-USAF P-80Cs as the TO-1, changed to the TV-1 about a year later. A carrier-capable version of the P-80/T-33 family was developed by Lockheed. The two TF-80C prototypes were modified as prototypes for an all-weather two-seater fighter variant which became the F-94 Starfire, a total of 6,557 Shooting Stars were produced,5,691 by Lockheed,210 by Kawasaki and 656 by Canadair. The two-place T-33 proved suitable as a trainer, and it has been used for such tasks as drone director. The T-33 was used to train cadets from the Air Force Academy at Peterson Field, the T-37 replaced the T-33 for Academy training in 1975. The final T-33 used in advanced training was replaced 8 February 1967 at Craig AFB, similar replacement also occurred in the U. S. Navy with the TV-1 as more advanced aircraft such as the North American T-2 Buckeye and Douglas TA-4 Skyhawk II came on line. The RT-33A version, reconnaissance aircraft produced primarily for use by countries, had a camera installed in the nose. The T-33 has served with over 30 nations, and continues to operate as a trainer in smaller air forces, Canadair built 656 T-33s on licence for service in the RCAF—Canadian Forces as the CT-133 Silver Star while Kawasaki manufactured 210 in Japan. Other operators included Brazil, Turkey and Thailand which used the T-33 extensively, in the 1980s, an attempt was made to modify and modernize the T-33 as the Boeing Skyfox, but a lack of orders led to the projects cancellation. About 70% of the T-33s airframe was retained in the Skyfox, in the late 1990s,18 T-33 Mk-III and T-33 SF-SC from the Bolivian Air Force went to Canada to be modernized at Kelowna Flightcraft

31.
Convair F-102 Delta Dagger
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The Convair F-102 Delta Dagger was an American interceptor aircraft that was built as part of the backbone of the United States Air Forces air defenses in the late 1950s. Entering service in 1956, its purpose was to intercept invading Soviet strategic bomber fleets during the Cold War. Designed and manufactured by Convair,1,000 F-102s were built, a member of the Century Series, the F-102 was the USAFs first operational supersonic interceptor and delta-wing fighter. It used an internal weapons bay to carry guided missiles and rockets. As originally designed, it could not achieve Mach 1 supersonic flight until redesigned with area ruling, the F-102 replaced subsonic fighter types such as the Northrop F-89 Scorpion, and by the 1960s, it saw limited service in the Vietnam War in bomber escort and ground-attack roles. It was supplemented by McDonnell F-101 Voodoos and, later, by McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom IIs, the follow-on replacement was the Mach-2 Convair F-106 Delta Dart, which was an extensive redesign of the F-102. On 8 October 1948, the board of officers of the U. S. Four months later, on 4 February 1949, the USAF approved the recommendation, in November 1949, the Air Force decided that the new aircraft would be built around a fire-control system. The FCS was to be designed before the airframe to ensure compatibility, the airframe and FCS together were called the weapon system. In January 1950, the USAF Air Materiel Command issued request for proposals to 50 companies for the FCS, by May, the list was revised downward to 10. Following recommendations by the committee to the Saville Board, the proposals were further reduced to two competitors, Hughes Aircraft and North American Aviation. Although the Valley Committee thought it was best to award the contract to companies, Hughes was chosen by Saville and his team on 2 October 1950. Proposals for the airframe were issued on 18 June 1950, on 2 July 1954, three companies, Convair, Republic and Lockheed won the right to build a mockup. Until then, Convair had done research into delta-winged aircraft, experimenting with different designs, of the three, the best design was to win the production contract under the name Project MX-1554. In the end, Convair emerged as the victor with its design, designated XF-102, after Lockheed dropped out, the development of three different designs was too expensive and in November, only Convair was allowed to continue with its Model 8-80. To speed development, it was proposed to equip the prototypes, continued delays to the J67 and MA-1 FCS led to the decision to place an interim aircraft with the J40 and a simpler fire control system into production as the F-102A. The failure of the J40 led to the Pratt & Whitney J57 turbojet with afterburner, rated with 10,000 pounds-force of thrust being substituted for the prototypes, the F-102B would later evolve to become the F-106A, dubbed the Ultimate Interceptor. The prototype YF-102 made its first flight on 23 October 1953, at Edwards AFB, the second aircraft flew on 11 January 1954, confirming a dismal performance

32.
Convair F-106 Delta Dart
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The Convair F-106 Delta Dart was the primary all-weather interceptor aircraft of the United States Air Force from the 1960s through the 1980s. Designed as the so-called Ultimate Interceptor, it proved to be the last dedicated interceptor in U. S. Air Force service to date and it was gradually retired during the 1980s, with the QF-106 drone conversions of the aircraft being used until 1998 under the Pacer Six Program. The F-106 was the development of the USAFs 1954 interceptor program of the early 1950s. By December 1951 the Air Force had already turned its attention to an improved version. Initially the main planned change was the replacement of the A-models Pratt & Whitney J57 with the more powerful Bristol Olympus, by the time this would be available, the MX-1179 was expected to be available, and was selected as well. The result would be the ultimate interceptor the Air Force wanted originally, however, while initial work on the Olympus appeared to go well, by August 1953 Wright was already a full year behind schedule in development. Continued development did not improve issues, and in early 1955 the Air Force approved the switch to the Pratt & Whitney J75, the J75 was somewhat larger than the J57 in the F-102A, and had greater mass flow. This change also led to the ducts being somewhat shorter, the fuselage grew slightly longer, and was cleaned up and simplified in many ways. The wing was enlarged in area, and a redesigned vertical tail surface was used. The engines 2-position afterburner exhaust nozzle was used for idle thrust control. The nozzle was held open reducing idle thrust by 40% giving slower taxiing, a mock-up with the expected layout of the MX-1179, now known as the MA-1, was inspected and approved in December 1955. With growing confidence that the aircraft was now improving, a production contract for 17 F-102Bs was sent out on 18 April 1956. On 17 June, the aircraft was officially re-designated as the F-106A, the first prototype F-106, an aerodynamic test bed, flew on 26 December 1956 from Edwards Air Force Base, with the second, fitted with a fuller set of equipment, following 26 February 1957. Initial flight tests at the end of 1956 and beginning of 1957 were disappointing, with less than anticipated, while the engine. These problems, and the associated with them nearly led to the abandoning of the program. On 15 December 1959, Major Joseph W. Rogers set a speed record of 1,525.96 mph in a Delta Dart at 40,500 ft. That year, Charles E. Myers flew the model aircraft at 1,544 mph. Nevertheless, Major Rogers received the award because cold war pressures dictated that a pilot should be recognized

33.
Tyndall Air Force Base
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Tyndall Air Force Base is a United States Air Force Base located 12 miles east of Panama City, Florida. The base was named in honor of World War I pilot 1st Lt Frank Benjamin Tyndall, the base operating unit and host wing is the 325th Fighter Wing of the Air Combat Command. The base is delineated as a place and had a resident population of 2,994 at the 2010 census. Tyndalls combat mission is performed by the 95th Fighter Squadron, Training for F-22 pilots is performed in the 43d Fighter Squadron and the 2d Fighter Training Squadron. The 325th Air Control Squadron trains air battle managers for assignment to combat Air Force units. From 1983 until 2010, training for F-15 Eagle pilots was performed at Tyndall AFB by the 1st, 2d, the 1 FS inactivated in 2006, while the 2 FS and 95 FS inactivated in May and September 2010, respectively. During this time, Tyndall also hosted training for F-15C/D maintenance personnel, the 95 FS was reactivated in September 2013 as part of the F-22 Raptor consolidation plan that moved the 7th Fighter Squadrons aircraft to Tyndall. The 2nd Fighter Training Squadron was activated in 2014 to perform T-38 adversary operations in support of the F-22 training mission, the 325th Fighter Wing is host to more than 30 tenant organizations located at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. The wing consists of the 325th Operations Group, 325th Maintenance Group, 325th Mission Support Group and it is also augmented by two Air Reserve Component units from the Air Force Reserve Command and the Air National Guard, respectively. The 44th Fighter Group of the Air Force Reserve Command is a unit of the 325 FW and. Otherwise, it operates at Tyndall as a unit of AFRCs 301st Fighter Wing at NAS JRB Fort Worth/Carswell Field. The 44 FG flies and maintains the F-22A Raptor in partnership with the 325 FW, headquarters, First Air Force at Tyndall is part of the Air Combat Command, ensuring the air sovereignty and air defense of the continental United States. Operationally-gained by ACC,1 AF is the only Numbered Air Force in the Air National Guard and is responsible for all Air National Guard F-15 and F-16 fighter units. The 53d Weapons Evaluation Group, is an Air Combat Command tenant organization that reports to the 53d Wing at nearby Eglin Air Force Base, the 53 WEG previously managed QF-4 Phantom II FSATSs, most of which were converted F-4E and F-4G aircraft. The 337th Air Control Squadron conducts Undergraduate Air Battle Manager Training at Tyndall AFB, Tyndall Field was opened on 13 January 1941 as a gunnery range. The airfield was named in honor of 1st Lt Frank Benjamin Tyndall, with the establishment of the United States Air Force in 1947, the facility was renamed Tyndall Air Force Base on 13 January 1948. In December 1940, a site determined that Flexible Gunnery School No.9 would be located 12 miles southeast of Panama City. On 6 May 1941, Army and local dignitaries held a ground breaking for the school

34.
New York City
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The City of New York, often called New York City or simply New York, is the most populous city in the United States. With an estimated 2015 population of 8,550,405 distributed over an area of about 302.6 square miles. Located at the tip of the state of New York. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy and has described as the cultural and financial capital of the world. Situated on one of the worlds largest natural harbors, New York City consists of five boroughs, the five boroughs – Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island – were consolidated into a single city in 1898. In 2013, the MSA produced a gross metropolitan product of nearly US$1.39 trillion, in 2012, the CSA generated a GMP of over US$1.55 trillion. NYCs MSA and CSA GDP are higher than all but 11 and 12 countries, New York City traces its origin to its 1624 founding in Lower Manhattan as a trading post by colonists of the Dutch Republic and was named New Amsterdam in 1626. The city and its surroundings came under English control in 1664 and were renamed New York after King Charles II of England granted the lands to his brother, New York served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790. It has been the countrys largest city since 1790, the Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to the Americas by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is a symbol of the United States and its democracy. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. Several sources have ranked New York the most photographed city in the world, the names of many of the citys bridges, tapered skyscrapers, and parks are known around the world. Manhattans real estate market is among the most expensive in the world, Manhattans Chinatown incorporates the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere, with multiple signature Chinatowns developing across the city. Providing continuous 24/7 service, the New York City Subway is one of the most extensive metro systems worldwide, with 472 stations in operation. Over 120 colleges and universities are located in New York City, including Columbia University, New York University, and Rockefeller University, during the Wisconsinan glaciation, the New York City region was situated at the edge of a large ice sheet over 1,000 feet in depth. The ice sheet scraped away large amounts of soil, leaving the bedrock that serves as the foundation for much of New York City today. Later on, movement of the ice sheet would contribute to the separation of what are now Long Island and Staten Island. The first documented visit by a European was in 1524 by Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine explorer in the service of the French crown and he claimed the area for France and named it Nouvelle Angoulême. Heavy ice kept him from further exploration, and he returned to Spain in August and he proceeded to sail up what the Dutch would name the North River, named first by Hudson as the Mauritius after Maurice, Prince of Orange

35.
Washington, D.C.
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Washington, D. C. formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D. C. is the capital of the United States. The signing of the Residence Act on July 16,1790, Constitution provided for a federal district under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Congress and the District is therefore not a part of any state. The states of Maryland and Virginia each donated land to form the federal district, named in honor of President George Washington, the City of Washington was founded in 1791 to serve as the new national capital. In 1846, Congress returned the land ceded by Virginia, in 1871. Washington had an population of 681,170 as of July 2016. Commuters from the surrounding Maryland and Virginia suburbs raise the population to more than one million during the workweek. The Washington metropolitan area, of which the District is a part, has a population of over 6 million, the centers of all three branches of the federal government of the United States are in the District, including the Congress, President, and Supreme Court. Washington is home to national monuments and museums, which are primarily situated on or around the National Mall. The city hosts 176 foreign embassies as well as the headquarters of international organizations, trade unions, non-profit organizations, lobbying groups. A locally elected mayor and a 13‑member council have governed the District since 1973, However, the Congress maintains supreme authority over the city and may overturn local laws. D. C. residents elect a non-voting, at-large congressional delegate to the House of Representatives, the District receives three electoral votes in presidential elections as permitted by the Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1961. Various tribes of the Algonquian-speaking Piscataway people inhabited the lands around the Potomac River when Europeans first visited the area in the early 17th century, One group known as the Nacotchtank maintained settlements around the Anacostia River within the present-day District of Columbia. Conflicts with European colonists and neighboring tribes forced the relocation of the Piscataway people, some of whom established a new settlement in 1699 near Point of Rocks, Maryland. 43, published January 23,1788, James Madison argued that the new government would need authority over a national capital to provide for its own maintenance. Five years earlier, a band of unpaid soldiers besieged Congress while its members were meeting in Philadelphia, known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, the event emphasized the need for the national government not to rely on any state for its own security. However, the Constitution does not specify a location for the capital, on July 9,1790, Congress passed the Residence Act, which approved the creation of a national capital on the Potomac River. The exact location was to be selected by President George Washington, formed from land donated by the states of Maryland and Virginia, the initial shape of the federal district was a square measuring 10 miles on each side, totaling 100 square miles. Two pre-existing settlements were included in the territory, the port of Georgetown, Maryland, founded in 1751, many of the stones are still standing

36.
158th Fighter Wing
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The 158th Fighter Wing is a unit of the Vermont Air National Guard, stationed at Burlington Air National Guard Base, Burlington, Vermont. If activated to service, the Wing is gained by the United States Air Force Air Combat Command. The mission of the 158th Fighter Wing is to utilize the F-16 Fighting Falcon to provide a relatively low-cost, high-performance weapon system for the United States and allied nations. Federal government, To provide the United States Air Force with combat ready personnel, State government, To provide assistance to the State of Vermont for use during local and statewide disasters or emergencies, to protect life, property, and preserve peace, and public safety. Other squadrons assigned into the group were the 158th Headquarters, 158th Material Squadron, 158th Combat Support Squadron, the mission of the 158th Fighter Group was the air defense of Vermont. Its 134th FIS was initially equipped with the F-94 Starfire interceptor, on 25 June 1960, Air Defense Command inactivated the active-duty 14th Fighter Group at Ethan Allen AFB, and the base reverted to full Air National Guard jurisdiction. The 158th Fighter Group now manned alert hangars 24 hours a day, in the summer of 1960, summer field training was conducted at Otis Air Force Base at Cape Cod, MA, from 18 June to 2 July. The aging F-94s were replaced by twin-engine F-89D Scorpion fighters in 1958, two years later F-89Js replaced the D models. The J model was designed to carry two AIR-2 Genie nuclear-tipped air-to-air missiles under the wings to defend against enemy bomber attack, the 134th was reorganized as the 158th Fighter Interceptor Group and was placed under the United States Air Defense Command. Lt Col Robert P. Goyette assumed command of the group, the Air Guard now manned alert hangars 24 hours a day, a mission which had previously belonged to the active Air Force. During the 1950s and early 1960s, better training and equipment, the Vermont Air National Guard received the ADC Operational Readiness award in October 1962, for having the greatest degree of readiness of any F-89 unit in the country. In 1965, the 134th received supersonic F-102A Delta Dagger interceptors, in 1971 the 158th embarked on an intensive recruiting program that made Vermont one of the top units in the country in total strength. During this period the Vermont ANG began to recruit women into all open career fields. Maryanne T. Lorenz was the first woman officer and SSgt Karen Wingard left active duty with the Air Force to become the first enlisted woman to join the Green Mountain Boy unit. She later became First Sergeant of the 158th Mission Support Squadron, received her commission, the 158th Fighter Interceptor Group became the 158th Defense Systems Evaluation Group in June 1974, with the unit receiving twenty EB-57 Canberras. These two-seat, twin-engine aircraft were former medium bombers that were re-equipped with electronic counter-measures, the new mission was to act as the friendly enemy to evaluate both air and ground radar systems. This mission took pilots, electronic warfare officers, and maintenance personnel all over the United States, Canada, and as far as Iceland, South Korea, the unit provided direct operational training of now-Aerospace Defense Command, U. S. The 158th Tactical Fighter Group deployed to the Gulfport Combat Readiness Training Center, Mississippi and this was the units first large-scale deployment in 23 years

37.
131st Bomb Wing
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The 131st Bomb Wing is a unit of the Missouri Air National Guard, stationed at Whiteman Air Force Base, Knob Noster, Missouri. If activated to service, the wing is gained by the United States Air Force Global Strike Command. It is a unit of the active-duty 509th Bomb Wing. The 131st Bomb Wing is the only Air National Guard wing to fly the B-2 Spirit, the 110th Bomb Squadron, which is assigned to the wings 131st Operations Group, is a descendant organization of the World War I 110th Aero Squadron, established on 14 August 1917. Demobilized in November 1918, it was re-established on 23 June 1923 as the 110th Observation Squadron, the unit is one of the 29 original National Guard Observation Squadrons of the United States Army National Guard formed before World War II. It is the oldest unit in the Missouri Air National Guard, with over 90 years of service to the state, Charles Lindbergh was a pilot of the 110th, Missouri National Guard, when he made his famous 1927 flight. The wing also organizes, trains, and prepares a community-based force of ready Citizen-Airmen to defend, the 364th FG flew escort, dive-bombing, strafing, and patrol missions in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany. At first the group operated primarily as escort for B-17 and B-24 Liberator heavy bombers, the 364th also flew air-sea rescue missions, engaged in patrol activities, and continued to support ground forces as the battle line advanced through France and into Germany. Took part in the effort to invade the Netherlands by air, September 1944, the Battle of the Bulge, December 1944 – January 1945, and the assault across the Rhine in March 1945. It was organized at Lambert Field, St Louis, and was extended federal recognition on 15 July 1946 by the National Guard Bureau, the 131st Fighter Group was bestowed the history, honors, and colors of the wartime 364th Fighter Group. Assigned to the Missouri ANG 57th Fighter Wing, the 131st Fighter Group controlled the 110th Fighter Squadron in St. Louis and the 180th Bombardment Squadron at Rosecrans Memorial Airport, St Joseph. The status of the 131st was changed from a Group to a Wing on 31 Oct 1950 when the 71st Fighter Wing was inactivated, on 1 March 1951 the 110th was federalized and brought to active-duty due to the Korean War. It was initially assigned to Strategic Air Command and transferred to Bergstrom AFB, the 131st Fighter-Bomber Group was composed of the 110th Fighter Squadron, the 192d Fighter Squadron, the 178th Fighter Squadron, and the 170th Fighter Squadron. At Berstrom, its mission was a replacement for the 27th Fighter-Escort Group which was deployed to Japan as part of SACs commitment to the Korean War. The unit was at Bergstrom until November when it was transferred to Tactical Air Command and moved to George AFB, the 110th Fighter-Bomber Squadron was released from active duty and returned to Missouri state control on 1 December 1952. Returning to Lambert Field, the 131st was re-formed as a bombardment squadron in January 1953. It received B-26 Invaders that returned from the Korean War and trained primarily in bombardment missions. With the removal of the B-26 from bombing duties in 1957 as they neared the end of their service lives, the 110th entered the Jet Age

38.
Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit
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The bomber can deploy both conventional and thermonuclear weapons, such as eighty 500 lb -class JDAM Global Positioning System-guided bombs, or sixteen 2,400 lb B83 nuclear bombs. The B-2 is the only acknowledged aircraft that can carry large air-to-surface standoff weapons in a stealth configuration, the ATB project continued during the Reagan administration, but worries about delays in its introduction led to the reinstatement of the B-1 program as well. Designed and manufactured by Northrop, later Northrop Grumman, the cost of each aircraft averaged US$737 million, total procurement costs averaged $929 million per aircraft, which includes spare parts, equipment, retrofitting, and software support. The total program cost including development, engineering and testing, averaged $2.1 billion per aircraft in 1997, because of its considerable capital and operating costs, the project was controversial in the U. S. Congress and among the Joint Chiefs of Staff. During the late 1980s and 1990s, Congress slashed plans to purchase 132 bombers to 21, in 2008, a B-2 was destroyed in a crash shortly after takeoff, though the crew ejected safely. A total of 20 B-2s remain in service with the United States Air Force, which plans to operate the B-2 until 2058. The B-2 is capable of all-altitude attack missions up to 50,000 feet, with a range of more than 6,000 nautical miles on internal fuel and over 10,000 nautical miles with one midair refueling. It entered service in 1997 as the aircraft designed to have advanced stealth technology after the Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk attack aircraft. Though designed originally as primarily a bomber, the B-2 was first used in combat, dropping conventional. It later served in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, by the mid-1970s, military aircraft designers had learned of a new method to avoid missiles and interceptors, known today as stealth. The concept was to build an aircraft with an airframe that deflected or absorbed radar signals so that little was reflected back to the radar unit. An aircraft having stealth characteristics would be able to fly nearly undetected and could be attacked only by weapons, although other detection measures existed, such as human observation, their relatively short detection range allowed most aircraft to fly undetected by defenses, especially at night. In 1974, DARPA requested information from U. S. aviation firms about the largest radar cross-section of an aircraft that would remain invisible to radars. Initially, Northrop and McDonnell Douglas were selected for further development, a key improvement was the introduction of computer models used to predict the radar reflections from flat surfaces where collected data drove the design of a faceted aircraft. Development of the first such designs started in 1975 with the hopeless diamond, plans were well advanced by the summer of 1975, when DARPA started the Experimental Survivability Testbed project. Northrop and Lockheed were awarded contracts in the first round of testing, Lockheed received the sole award for the second test round in April 1976 leading to the Have Blue program and eventually the F-117 stealth attack aircraft. Northrop also had a technology demonstration aircraft, the Tacit Blue in development in 1979 at Area 51. It developed stealth technology, LO, fly-by-wire, curved surfaces, composite materials, electronic intelligence, the stealth technology developed from the program was later incorporated into other operational aircraft designs, including the B-2 stealth bomber

39.
144th Fighter Wing
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The 144th Fighter Wing is a unit of the California Air National Guard, stationed at Fresno Air National Guard Base, California. As part of the Air Reserve Component of the United States Air Force, in its state mission under Title 32 USC, the 144th also supports the nations Counter Drug Program and responds to state emergencies when requested by the Governor of California. The wing previously flew the F-16C and F-16D Fighting Falcon, having transferred the last F-16C aircraft to the Arizona Air National Guard in November 2013, the wing also operates one C-26A transport. The 144th Fighter Wing is composed of the units, 144th Operations Group 194th Fighter Squadron 144th Maintenance Group 144th Mission Support Group 144th Medical Group. Activated in October 1943 as the 372d Fighter Group at Hamilton Field, during World War II, the squadron was an Operational Training Unit, equipped with second-line P-39 Airacobras and P-40 Warhawks. Its mission was to newly graduated pilots from Training Command in combat tactics. Initially assigned to IV Fighter Command, then transferred to III Fighter Command in 1944 and it took part in air-ground maneuvers and demonstrations, participating in the Louisiana Maneuvers in the summer of 1944 and in similar activities in the US until after V-J Day. The wartime 372d Fighter Group was re-activated and re-designated as the 144th Fighter Group and it was organized at Naval Air Station Alameda, California, and was extended federal recognition on 2 June 1948 by the National Guard Bureau. The 144th Fighter Group was bestowed the lineage, history, honors, the Group was assigned to the California ANGs 61st Fighter Wing. All were initially equipped with F-51D Mustangs, with a mission of air defense of their respective states, in 1949, the 144th and its assigned 194th Fighter Squadron moved from NAS Alameda to the former Hayward Army Airfield, designated as Hayward Air National Guard Base. At the end of October 1950, the Air National Guard converted to the wing-base organization, as a result, the 61st Fighter Wing was withdrawn from the California ANG and inactivated on 31 October 1950. The 144th Fighter Group was assigned to the new wing as its group with the three fighter squadrons. The squadrons of the 144th Fighter Group were retained by the Air National Guard and not deployed, the F-51Ds were exchanged for F-51H Mustangs in 1951, as the D model of the Mustang was needed for close air support missions in Korea. The F-51H was a Very Long Range version of the Mustang, which was developed to escort B-29 Superfortress bombers to Japan, the increased range, however, was well-suited for air defense interceptor alert flights. During its years with the P-51H, the unit earned prominence as one of the Air Forces most respected aerial gunnery competitors, in June 1953, while still flying the Mustang, the unit qualified for the first all-jet, worldwide gunnery meet. At the same time, the 194th relocated to Fresno Air Terminal, on 7 July 1955, the 144th was re-designated as the 194th Fighter-Interceptor Wing, a designation kept by the squadron for the next 37 years. The 194th continued to fly the F-86A until 31 March 1958, on 1 April 1958, the transition was made to the F-86L Sabre Interceptor, which was designed from the onset as an interceptor, had all-weather capability and was able to be used in all weather. In addition, the F-86L could be controlled and directed by the SAGE computer-controlled Ground Control Interceptor sites which would vector the aircraft to the target for interception

40.
California Air National Guard
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The California Air National Guard is the air force militia of the U. S. State of California. It is, along with the California Army National Guard, an element of the California National Guard, as state militia units, the units in the California Air National Guard are not in the normal United States Air Force chain of command. They are under the jurisdiction of the Governor of California through the office of the California Adjutant General unless they are federalized by order of the President of the United States. The California Air National Guard is headquartered in Sacramento, and its commander is currently Major General Jon K. Kelk, under the Total Force concept, California Air National Guard units are considered to be Air Reserve Components of the United States Air Force. California ANG units are trained and equipped by the Air Force and are gained by a Major Command of the USAF if federalized. State missions include disaster relief in times of earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and forest fires, search and rescue, protection of public services. It is under state jurisdiction and its members are employed only within the State of California and it is not subject to be called, ordered or assigned as any element of the federal armed forces. Currently in transition from a KC-135 Stratotanker air refueling mission to an MQ-1 Predator ISR wing, executing global unmanned aerial systems, combat support, and humanitarian missions. The California Air National Guard origins date to 28 August 1917 with the establishment of the 115th Aero Squadron as part of the World War I United States Army Air Service. The 115th served in France on the Western Front, constructed facilities and engaged in supply, the Militia Act of 1903 established the present National Guard system, units raised by the states but paid for by the Federal Government, liable for immediate state service. If federalized by Presidential order, they fall under the military chain of command. On 1 June 1920, the Militia Bureau issued Circular No.1 on organization of National Guard air units, initially the Unit held its meetings at Clover Field, Santa Monica, using Reserve Equipment planes for flying. Later on, the Squadron met at the National Guard Armory, in 1925, several months after its organization, the Squadron moved to permanent quarters at Griffith Park Aerodrome in Los Angeles. These unit designations were allotted and transferred to various State National Guard bureaus to provide them unit designations to re-establish them as Air National Guard units, the modern California ANG received federal recognition on 1 July 1946 as the 62d Fighter Wing at Van Nuys Airport, Van Nuys. Its 115th Bombardment Squadron was equipped with A-26 Invader light bombers, on 16 September 1946, its 146th Fighter Group was also formed at Van Nuys, with several fighter squadrons equipped with F-51 Mustangs and its mission was the air defense of the state. The 61sts mission was the air defense of Northern California, the 62d, today, units of the CA ANG perform a homeland defense mission, worldwide airlift missions, aireal firefighting, combat search and rescue, and Unmanned Aireal Reconnaissance missions. After the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, in December 2007, after the grounding of F-15 fighters due to potential structural problems, the California Air National Guard assumed responsibility for defense of the western United States. This was the first time that a single states fighter wing took responsibility of defense for an entire coast, also, California ANG units have been deployed overseas as part of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq as well as other locations as directed

41.
19th Airlift Wing
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The 19th Airlift Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Mobility Commands Eighteenth Air Force. It is stationed at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas, the wingis also the host unit at Little Rock. Active for over 60 years, the 19th was a component wing of Strategic Air Commands deterrent force during the Cold War, the wing served in the Korean War and Operation Desert Storm. Its component units are engaged in combat operations as part of the Global War on Terrorism. The 19th Airlift Wing is commanded by Colonel Charles E. Brown Jr and its Command Chief Master Sergeant is Chief Master Sergeant Kenneth Carter. The 19th Airlift Wing is organized into a structure, 19th Operations Group Plans, trains. 19th Mission Support Group Encompasses the support and logistic functions for the base, the group includes contracting, civil engineer, communications, security forces, force support and the logistic readiness squadrons. 19th Medical Group Provides responsive care and services to the population and ensures a fit. For related history and lineage, see 19th Operations Group The 19th Bombardment Wing was formed in 1948 from resources of the former North Guam Air Force Base Command. The 19th, with the 19th Bombardment Group as its operational flying unit, operated Andersen Air Force Base, in May 1949, headquarters Twentieth Air Force moved from Guam to Kadena Air Base, Okinawa and its former staff was assigned to the 19th Bomb Wing. Many of the units and facilities were inactivated with a few months, in October 1949, the 19th Wing again became subordinated to Twentieth Air Force and the remaining units in the Marianas and Bonin Islands were transferred to other organizations. From 17 October 1949 until 28 June 1950, the wing continued B-29 training, operation of Anderson and some rescue, when the Korean War broke out in late June 1950, the 19th Bombardment Group was immediately detached from the wing for combat operations from Kadena. From Kadena, the operational squadrons attacked North Korean invasion forces. The first Superfortress unit in the war, the group on 28 June attacked North Korean storage tanks, marshalling yards, and armor. In the first two months, it more than six hundred sorties, supporting United Nations ground forces by bombing enemy troops, vehicles. At Kadena, the group was initially under the control of Twentieth Air Force. After 8 July 1950, it was attached to Far East Air Forces Bomber Command, many of the aircraft flown by the 19th Bomb Group squadrons in combat were refurbished B-29s that were placed in storage after World War II, then brought back into operational service. In the north, its targets included an oil refinery and port facilities at Wonsan, a bridge at Pyongyang

42.
Little Rock Air Force Base
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Little Rock Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately 17 miles northeast of Little Rock, Arkansas. It is home to C-130H and C-130J aircraft, as well as the C-130 Center of Excellence, the host unit at Little Rock AFB is the 19th Airlift Wing, assigned to the Air Mobility Command 21st Expeditionary Mobility Task Force. Other organizations at Little Rock AFB include the 189th Airlift Wing of the Arkansas Air National Guard, all of these organizations fly the C-130 Hercules. Little Rock Air Force Base is the fourth largest employer in the state of Arkansas, Little Rock Air Force Base is the home of the 19th Airlift Wing, the host unit. Additionally, the 189th Airlift Wing of the Arkansas Air National Guard is located here, the 189th AW also reports to Air Education and Training Command. 19th Operations Group Provides and sustains combatant commands with precise and responsive theater combat aerial delivery, the group trains and develops Airmen to lead the Air Force and innovates and shapes future combat aerial delivery options. The 19th Operations Group is composed of three flying squadrons—the 41st, 53rd, and 61st Airlift Squadrons, the 41st is the Air Forces first active-duty combat-ready C-130J squadron. These squadrons are operational and deploy throughout the world, 19th Mission Support Group The 19th Mission Support Group encompasses the support and logistic functions for the base. The group includes contracting, civil engineer, communications, security forces, force support, 19th Maintenance Group Deploys and trains C-130 maintainers and aircraft. 19th Medical Group The 19th Medical Group offers family practice, pediatrics, the 19th Medical Group also has womens health, physical therapy, optometry, life skills, and dental clinics along with a full array of diagnostic services and prevention programs. For specialty medical services not available in the medical facility. 314th Airlift Wing Directly reporting to Nineteenth Air Force at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas and it is the premier C-130 training base in the Department of Defense, training C-130 crew members from all branches of the service and the U. S. Coast Guard. The 314th Operations Group mission is to train world-class, combat capable aircrews to sustain global airlift operations, the 314th Operations Group vision is to develop combat leaders of all ranks, support the warfighter, and develop worlds premier C-130 and C-21 centers of excellence. 314th Maintenance Group The 314th Maintenance Group provides direct support for the primary mission forces, an AMC operational group. The group is composed of a command element and two reporting squadrons, 314th Maintenance Operations Squadron and 314th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron. Robinson in North Little Rock, Arkansas, 913th Airlift Group The 913th Airlift Group is part of the 22nd Air Force, Air Force Reserve Command. The group began as the 22nd Air Force Detachment 1, activated October 2010, the group provides C-130J combat airlift capability on a world-wide scale. The group is part of an association with the 50th Airlift Squadron, 19th Airlift Wing, Little Rock AFB

43.
Arkansas
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Arkansas is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. Its name is of Siouan derivation from the language of the Osage denoting their related kin, the states diverse geography ranges from the mountainous regions of the Ozark and the Ouachita Mountains, which make up the U. S. Interior Highlands, to the forested land in the south known as the Arkansas Timberlands, to the eastern lowlands along the Mississippi River. Arkansas is the 29th largest by area and the 33rd most populous of the 50 United States, the capital and most populous city is Little Rock, located in the central portion of the state, a hub for transportation, business, culture, and government. The northwestern corner of the state, such as the Fayetteville–Springdale–Rogers Metropolitan Area and Fort Smith metropolitan area, is a population, education, the largest city in the eastern part of the state is Jonesboro. The largest city in the part of the state is Pine Bluff. The Territory of Arkansas was admitted to the Union as the 25th state on June 15,1836, in 1861 Arkansas withdrew from the United States and joined the Confederate States of America during the Civil War. Upon returning to the Union in 1868, the state would continue to suffer due to its reliance on slavery. White rural interests continued to dominate the politics until the Civil Rights Movement. Arkansas began to diversify its economy following World War II and relies on its service industry, aircraft, poultry, steel, tourism, cotton, and rice. The culture of Arkansas is observable in museums, theaters, novels, television shows, restaurants, wright, and physicist William L. McMillan, who was a pioneer in superconductor research, have all lived in Arkansas. The name Arkansas derives from the root as the name for the state of Kansas. The Kansa tribe of Native Americans are closely associated with the Sioux tribes of the Great Plains, the word Arkansas itself is a French pronunciation of a Quapaw word, akakaze, meaning land of downriver people or the Sioux word akakaze meaning people of the south wind. In 2007, the legislature passed a non-binding resolution declaring the possessive form of the states name to be Arkansass which has been followed increasingly by the state government. Arkansas borders Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, Oklahoma to the west, Missouri to the north, as well as Tennessee, the United States Census Bureau classifies Arkansas as a southern state, sub-categorized among the West South Central States. The state line along the Mississippi River is indeterminate along much of the border with Mississippi due to these changes. Arkansas can generally be split into two halves, the highlands in the northwest half and the lowlands of the southeastern half, the highlands are part of the Southern Interior Highlands, including The Ozarks and the Ouachita Mountains. The southern lowlands include the Gulf Coastal Plain and the Arkansas Delta and this dual split can yield to general regions named northwest, southwest, northeast, southeast, or central Arkansas

44.
86th Fighter Wing (Air National Guard)
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The 86th Fighter Wing is a disbanded unit of the United States Air Force, last stationed at Buckley Field, Denver, Colorado. It was withdrawn from the Colorado Air National Guard and inactivated on 31 October 1950. This wing is not related to the United States Air Force 86th Fighter Wing that was Constituted on 1 July 1948, Activated as an intermediate echelon organization for Fifth Air Force in late 1943. From May 1944 to August 1945, it operating as a command, after the end of hostilities, the wing became responsible for establishing and operating an aircraft warning system in the Philippine Islands. All personnel and equipment transferred to the 64th Fighter Wing on 15 February 1946, allocated to the Colorado Air National Guard for command and control origination for units in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States. Extended federal recognition and activated on 3 July 1946, at the end of October 1950, the Air National Guard converted to the wing-base organization. As a result, the wing was withdrawn from the Colorado ANG and was inactivated on 31 October 1950, Constituted as 86th Fighter Wing on 19 November 1943 Activated on 1 December 1943 Inactivated on 15 March 1946. Buckley Field, Denver, Colorado,3 July 1946 -31 October 1950 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http, //www. afhra. af. mil/

45.
140th Fighter Group
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The 140th Operations Group is a unit of the Colorado Air National Guard, stationed at Buckley Air Force Base, Aurora, Colorado. If activated to service, the group is gained by Air Combat Command of the United States Air Force. The groups 120th Fighter Squadron was first organized as the World War I 120th Aero Squadron on 28 August 1917. It was reformed on 27 June 1923 as the 120th Observation Squadron, in 1946 the group, now redesignated the 140th Fighter Group, was one of the original twenty-seven regular Army Air Forces groups allotted to the National Guard. Since 1950 the group has controlled the squadrons of the 140th Wing, except for the period 1974-1993. The 140th flies F-16C/D/ Fighting Falcons fighter and C-21 Learjet airlift missions and it also controls the 137th Space Warning Squadron. 200th Airlift Squadron, Operates the C-21A Learget and it provides secure priority airlift for the highest level of military and civilian leaders throughout the world. 140th Operations Support Squadron The unit was constituted as the 370th Fighter Group in May 1943, the original squadrons of the group were the 401st, 402d and 485th Fighter Squadrons. The group trained with Republic P-47 Thunderbolts at several First Air Force bases in New England then was deployed to RAF Aldermaston England during January and February 1944, in Europe, it became an element of Ninth Air Force. When the group arrived, the expected to receive Thunderbolts on which they had trained stateside, however, much to the amazement of the Group Commander, Colonel Howard F. The latter base proved to be only a station, as it was required for troop carrier operations. The group provided cover for Allied forces that crossed the Channel on D-Day, the group transferred to IX Tactical Air Command and moved the Advanced Landing Ground at Cardonville, France on 24 July to support the Allied ground advance across France and into Germany. German Field Marshal von Kluge soon found that his forces moving towards Normandy were constantly beset by Allied fighter-bomber attacks. Losses in men and equipment are extraordinary, von Kluge himself was not immune to personal danger. USAAF Group Commander Nichols and a squadron of his P-38 Lightnings blasted von Kluges own headquarters, moving across France, the 370th FG hit gun emplacements, troops, supply dumps, and tanks near Saint-Lô in July and in the Falaise–Argentan area in August 1944. In September 1944, the group sent planes and pilots to England to provide cover for Operation Market-Garden, the allied airborne assault on the Netherlands and Germany. The P-38s of the group struck pillboxes and troops early in October to aid First Armys capture of Aachen, and afterward struck railroads, bridges, viaducts, and tunnels in that area. The 370th later flew armed reconnaissance during the Battle of the Bulge, attacking warehouses, highways, railroads, motor transports, the group converted to North American P-51 Mustangs during February – March 1945

46.
146th Fighter-Bomber Wing
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The 146th Airlift Wing is a unit of the California Air National Guard, stationed at Channel Islands Air National Guard Station, Oxnard, California. If activated to service, the Wing is gained by the United States Air Force Air Mobility Command. The 115th Airlift Squadron assigned to the Wings 146th Operations Group, is a descendant organization of the 115th Observation Squadron and it is one of the 29 original National Guard Observation Squadrons of the United States Army National Guard formed before World War II. It is the oldest unit in the California Air National Guard, having almost 90 years of service to the state, the 146th AWs primary mission is to provide global military airlift capability to a full spectrum of state and federal agencies. MAFFS II was used for the first time on a fire in July 2010, the 146th Airlift Wing was the first to transition to the MAFFS2 system in 2008, and it remains the only unit flying the new system on the C-130J aircraft. During World War II the 373d Fighter Group was assigned to the European Theater of Operations and it was equipped with P-47 Thunderbolts. The Group flew its first combat mission on 8 May 1944 and it then took part in preinvasion activities, e. g. escorting B-26 Marauders to attack airdromes, bridges and railroads in Occupied France. The Group bombed such targets as troops in the Falaise-Argentan area in August 1944, during the Battle of the Bulge, December 1944 - January 1945, the Group concentrated on the destruction of bridges, marshalling yards and highways. It flew reconnaissance missions to ground operations in the Rhine Valley in March 1945, hitting airfields, motor transports. The Group continued tactical air operations until 4 May 1945, returned to the United States and prepared for transfer to the Pacific Theater during the Summer of 1945, the Japanese Capitulation in August led to the Groups inactivation in November 1945. The wartime 373d Fighter Group was re-designated as the 146th Fighter Group and it was organized at Van Nuys Airport, Los Angeles, California and was extended federal recognition on 16 September by the National Guard Bureau. The 146th Fighter Group was bestowed the lineage, history, honors, the Group was assigned to the California ANG 62d Fighter Wing. All of the squadrons were initially equipped with F-51D Mustangs, with a mission of air defense of Southern California. The 115th was equipped with B-26 Invader light bombers, gained by Tactical Air Command, other components were the 146th Headquarters, 146th Material Squadron, 146th Combat Support Squadron, and the 1146th USAF Dispensary. At the end of October 1950, the Air National Guard converted to the wing-base organization, as a result, the 62d Fighter Wing was withdrawn from the California ANG and was inactivated on 31 October 1950. The 146th Composite Group was assigned to the new wing as its group with the three fighter squadrons. The 115th Bombardment Squadron at Van Nuys Airport was transferred from the 62d Fighter Wing to the new 144th Composite Wing, the 115th was a re-designation of the original California National Guard pre-war 115th Observation Squadron with origins dating to 1917. With the surprise invasion of South Korea on 25 June 1950, the 146th Fighter Wing was federalized on 1 March 1951 and assigned to Tactical Air Command

47.
Virginia
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Virginia is a state located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, as well as in the historic Southeast. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are shaped by the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Chesapeake Bay, the capital of the Commonwealth is Richmond, Virginia Beach is the most populous city, and Fairfax County is the most populous political subdivision. The Commonwealths estimated population as of 2014 is over 8.3 million, the areas history begins with several indigenous groups, including the Powhatan. In 1607 the London Company established the Colony of Virginia as the first permanent New World English colony, slave labor and the land acquired from displaced Native American tribes each played a significant role in the colonys early politics and plantation economy. Although the Commonwealth was under one-party rule for nearly a century following Reconstruction, the Virginia General Assembly is the oldest continuous law-making body in the New World. The state government was ranked most effective by the Pew Center on the States in both 2005 and 2008 and it is unique in how it treats cities and counties equally, manages local roads, and prohibits its governors from serving consecutive terms. Virginias economy changed from agricultural to industrial during the 1960s and 1970s. Virginia has an area of 42,774.2 square miles, including 3,180.13 square miles of water. Virginias boundary with Maryland and Washington, D. C. extends to the mark of the south shore of the Potomac River. The southern border is defined as the 36° 30′ parallel north, the border with Tennessee was not settled until 1893, when their dispute was brought to the U. S. Supreme Court. The Chesapeake Bay separates the portion of the Commonwealth from the two-county peninsula of Virginias Eastern Shore. The bay was formed from the river valleys of the Susquehanna River. Many of Virginias rivers flow into the Chesapeake Bay, including the Potomac, Rappahannock, York, and James, the Tidewater is a coastal plain between the Atlantic coast and the fall line. It includes the Eastern Shore and major estuaries of Chesapeake Bay, the Piedmont is a series of sedimentary and igneous rock-based foothills east of the mountains which were formed in the Mesozoic era. The region, known for its clay soil, includes the Southwest Mountains around Charlottesville. The Blue Ridge Mountains are a province of the Appalachian Mountains with the highest points in the state. The Ridge and Valley region is west of the mountains and includes the Great Appalachian Valley, the region is carbonate rock based and includes Massanutten Mountain. The Cumberland Plateau and the Cumberland Mountains are in the southwest corner of Virginia, in this region, rivers flow northwest, with a dendritic drainage system, into the Ohio River basin

48.
Andrews Air Force Base
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Andrews Field is the airfield portion of Joint Base Andrews which is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force. In 2009, Andrews Air Force Base merged with Naval Air Facility Washington to form Joint Base Andrews, Andrews is the home base of two Boeing VC-25A aircraft with the call sign Air Force One when the president is on board, that serve the President of the United States. The host unit at Andrews is the 11th Wing, assigned to the Air Force District of Washington, the wing commander is Colonel Kenneth R. Rizer. The Command Chief Master Sergeant is Chief Master Sergeant Anthony Brinkley, for statistical purposes the base is delineated as a census-designated place by the U. S. Census Bureau. As of the 2010 census, the resident population was 2,973, union American Civil War troops used a country church near Camp Springs, Maryland for sleeping quarters and on 25 August 1941, President Roosevelt directed use of the land for an airfield. Camp Springs Air Base was designated on 5 September 1942, Camp Springs Army Air Base opened on 2 May 1943, and the airfield became operational 2 May 1943 when the first Republic P-47 Thunderbolts arrived. After the 367th Fighter Squadron was stationed at Camp Springs on 21 April 1943, the airfield had 5,500 feet runways by 1944 when the 90th Fighter Control Squadron was formed, and the last Camp Springs combat units departed for World War II combat on 10 April 1944. Camp Springs was expanded to become the headquarters of Continental Air Forces —the 161st AAF Base Unit became the Andrews Field operating unit on 16 April 1945. Andrews Field was named on 7 February 1945 in honor of Lt Gen. Frank Andrews and in 1946, strategic Air Command headquarters transferred from Bolling Field to Andrews. The command of CONAFs Radar Bomb Scoring detachments transferred to Andrews on 17 March 1946 when the 263 AAF BU was assigned to Carswell AFB). Andrews transferred from the Army to the 1947 United States Air Force and Headquarters Command held command reins at Andrews from 1947 through 1952, Headquarters Military Air Transport Service controlled the base during the interim period. The year 1947 marked the arrival of the first permanently assigned jet-powered aircraft, the long-lived and versatile training version of the F-80, the T-33, still played an important role in proficiency flying programs at Andrews more than 30 years later. Andrews Air Force Base was designated on 24 June 1948, and in June 1950, HQ Air Research and Development Command moved to Andrews from Baltimore,24 June 1958. Andrews air defense role was strengthened in the 1950s with the latest in fighter-interceptor hardware appearing on the flight line, f-94 Starfires, F-102 Delta Daggers and finally, F-106 Delta Darts formed the backbone of the three fighter interceptor squadrons which operated from the base until 1963. In the late 1950s Andrews began an open house and air show on base. This event later evolved into the Department of Defense Joint Services Open House, the open house is held every year over Armed Forces Day weekend. In the years since 1959, Andrews flight operations and importance have increased greatly, in 1961, the last of the Military Air Transport Services flying units at Washington National Airport transferred to Andrews. This was followed a year later by the transfer to Andrews of all fixed-wing flying activities from Bolling Air Force Base, Andrews has become firmly established as the main port of entry for foreign military and government officials en route to Washington and the United States

A Galludet Tractor biplane which the New York National Guard aviators rented in 1915.

Captain Charles A. Lindbergh, Missouri National Guard, and members of his National Guard unit, 110th Observation Squadron, after he flew solo across the Atlantic Ocean, 1927.

Following a devastating blizzard in 1949, Colorado ANG C-47s dropped hay to stranded and starving livestock throughout the Rocky Mountain region. Altogether the Colorado Air Guardsmen flew 17 such missions dropping tons of hay that saved thousands of cattle and wildlife. Colorado ANG F-51s and A-26s also flew 10 reconnaissance missions during that emergency, 29 January 1949.

The signing of the Tripartite Pact by Germany, Japan, and Italy on 27 September 1940 in Berlin. Seated from left to right are the Japanese ambassador to Germany Saburō Kurusu, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Galeazzo Ciano, and Adolf Hitler.

North American P-51D-15-NA Mustang 44-15493 (5E-J) and P-51K-5-NT Mustang 44-11619 (5E-O) of the 385th FS, 364th FG. 5E-J, "Jeanne II" was flown by Capt. Gerald W "Jerry" Fine, and was named for his wife. 5E-O, "Boilermaker Special" was flown by Lt. Robert W. Boydston.

Andrews AFB and Joint Base Andrews are named for Lieutenant GeneralFrank Maxwell Andrews (1884–1943), former Commanding General of United States Forces in the World War II European Theater of Operations. General Andrews organized and commanded the General Headquarters, Air Force (1935–1939), and at the time of his death on 3 May 1943 in the crash of a B-24 Liberator in Iceland, he was Commanding General, United States Forces, European Theater of Operations.